The Demon Fox
by Foxcomm
Summary: Another Filler Story. What if Naruto kept going after Orochimaru seperated him from his team in the Forest of Death. What kind of animal would he meet and what would it mean for him?
1. Misunderstandings

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were jumping through the Forest of Death when suddenly a blast of wind knocked Naruto away from them. He tumbled around for a bit, noticing he flew right pass a giant snake, which he was glad for. When finally he stopped, he looked at where he was. He saw the same thing as the rest of the forest. It was what he didn't hear that caught his attention. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. No birds, no insects, nothing living. It scared him. He turned around several times trying to find what it was that kept things away. Looking around several times, he saw a tree with a hollowed out cave under the roots. The den there was at least ten feet wide ad must have been six feet tall. His instincts told him to run away. But his curiosity made him go forward. He was a few feet away from the entrance when he saw it. Two yellow eyes that glowed in the dark opened at the back of the cave. Followed by a growl. Naruto jumped back as it jumped out. And he yelled in terror. Eleven feet tall! It stood on two legs with a tail, fangs, two ears on the top of its head, and fur covered its body! It looked like a wolf in a way, but also like a man. It snarled at Naruto and he jumped into the trees.

And it followed. Its claws dug into the bark easily. Its muscular legs letting it leap nearly fifty feet at a time easily. It cornered Naruto on an branch and he backed up against the tree. "Oh god... Somebody...anybody...help," he whispered even though he knew that no one was coming. "I'm going to die... I'm going to die..." It picked him up in one of its human like hands, snarling at him. Then it reared back and bit down on his shoulder. Naruto's eyes closed in pain when it did. An instant later, it seemed the world stopped to him. And the next moment, his eyes snapped open blood red and slitted. His left hand grabbed its lower jaw while the right grabbed its upper jaw. He then pulled until it his head had split in two. The body twitched for a couple of seconds before it fell to the ground. Naruto landed on it but it still hurt like hell. He could feel that some of his bones were broken. He had no way to defend himself so he did the only thing he could think of. He covered his face with some of the beast's blood and crawled into its den. He tried to get a splint ready for when he reset the bone in his leg but the pain was too much. He passed out.

—oo000oo—

Kyuubi could feel it, the disease was spreading and there was no way to stop it. Soon, Naruto would be one of those _things_. While it would be an improvement, Kyuubi had his standards still. He chakra reached out, fighting it and changing it to what suited him. Behind the cage, he smiled.

—oo000oo—

"_**HOWLLLLL!"**_ Sakura heard another predator in the forest and shivered. Sasuke was unconscious from that mark that grass ninja gave him and Naruto had been gone for a long time now. Only one possibility in this forest, he was dead. She looked around and shivered again. She couldn't shake the feeling she was being watched. She just prayed that it was only a feeling. She saw a squirrel moving to her trap and she scared it off with a kunai. Not long later, the three Sound ninja came by.

"Looky, looky," the dark haired one said. "A team that lost a member and is about to lose another one." He took a step but was stopped by the mummy wrapped guy. "What?"

He reached down and revealed Sakura's trap. "The dirt didn't match. You are totally useless. Is that why the blond is dead and Sasuke is crippled?"

"It...wasn't my fault," Sakura stuttered. "We...We weren't ready. Please, we don't have a scroll, don't kill us."

We aren't here for a scroll," the girl told her. "We are here to kill him. And if you give him up, we won;t kill you."

"Yeah," the first boy said. "You aren't worth killing. Better to leave you for some monster to eat."

Sakura looked from Sasuke to them and was about to get between them. But she saw something that made her eyes widen and she began to crawl backwards to get away from it, forgetting she was blocked by a tree. "What is her prob..." the second boy started to ask.

The girl and boy looked around when he didn't finish. And they saw he was shaking as he looked down at his chest. Blood was staining his shirt there. He tried to look behind him but just couldn't. Zaku and Kin were glad he couldn't, he didn't want to. It, and that was the only thing they could call it, stood about eight feet tall. A lithe but muscular humanoid stood behind him, bending down. It stood at its full high, hold Dosu in the air effortlessly. It had a big bushy tail and large ears on its head. Its hands were more like claws and it had a muzzle with fangs nearly three inches long. Its right claw was going into Dosu's back. It turned him around so he could see it. His face twisted in terror, his body not knowing he was already dead. It opened its mouth and brought its jaws down on his face, finishing him off.

"DOSU," Zaku shouted. He raised his fist and shot two air blast at the monster. But it tossed the body in the way and jumped out of the way. As Dosu was torn apart, his scroll dropping to the ground, Kin and Zaku looked around for it. "What is that thing!?"

"I, I, I don't know," Kin stuttered. "Put your back against mind, Zaku." She backed up and felt herself bump into him. Her eyes widened when she realized what she backed up was taller than Zaku. She spun around and screamed wordlessly. The monster had Zaku in the air holding him spread eagle. There was a sickening tear as it pulled his left arm off, discarded it, grabbed him by his neck, and pulled the other arm off. She hoped he was dead. But he moaned, signally to the creature that he wasn't. Kin didn't stay to watch. She ran, hearing him roar in pain. She found a spot where the roots of a tree created a small ditch that should protect her. She crawled in it and pressed herself as far as she could into it. She stayed there, whimpering every now and then as she thought she heard it. Then it appeared and saw her. It looked down at her and growled. But after a moment, it calmed down and began to whimper a little. She relaxed a little and said, "Please let me go, puppy. I won't come back. Don't hurt me." She sounded just like that girl she had just been threatening. Suddenly, it grew mad and snarled at her.

—oo000oo—

Sakura heard the last Sound ninja scream. She waited for it to come and kill her and Sasuke. When she heard the shuffling, she held her kunai at the ready. When she saw it, it had the girl in its mouths by her clothes. Her eyes were closed and she was shaking in fear. It walked on all fours to the cave and dropped her to the ground. She didn't move. He then went off and came back, something in his mouth. Sakura saw him set it on the ground and took the chance. She jumped and stabbed it in the back. It snarled in pain and shook her off. As she hit the wall, she saw the wound close before her eyes. It turned to look at her, mad, but when it saw it was her, the anger went away. It padded over to her, while she shook in fear. It looked at her and then licked her face. She then realized it was a giant fox that was a little like a man.

"Why did it not kill us," she stuttered.

"I...I can only think of one thing," the other girl stuttered. "That is male, we are female."

"Oh god," Sakura whimpered. But to their surprise, it left and laid down on the grass. No one moved for a long time. When Kin did, he lifted his head and looked at her. He didn't snarl, growl, or anything. Just looked. "Don't move, it might not attack if we don't."

"What does it want?"

"...We weren't aggressive," Sakura said. "No, I stabbed him."

The fox turned his head to look in the distance and suddenly got up. It snarled and ran off. "Its gone," Kin said in relief. "I'm getting out of here!"

"Wait! That is a predator! You leave, it will follow you." Kin dropped back down at that.

Neither moved for almost an hour. Then someone stumbled into the clearing. "...Sakura-chan... Have to find...Sakura-chan..." He fell but got back up. Neither could believe what they saw. It was Naruto. His clothes were torn to shreds, blood covered most of his body, and he looked like he had gone through hell.

"NARUTO!" She rushed out to grab him, not caring that the fox might be out here. She grabbed him and pulled him under the tree. "What happened!?"

"Wolf...wolf...man...thing... Bit...bit me...shoulder. Bit my shoulder...we fell...blood...there was blood everywhere. In my mouth, my body...fur...fangs... I saw them... It...I...it tore them apart... Scrolls, grabbed scrolls... I saw it... Make it go away, make it go away! The blood won't leave, it won't leave! Taste it, I can taste it! Arms, head...it... OH GOD!" He collapsed to the ground and began to cry. "Make them go away, Sakura-chan," he begged. "Make it go, please," he cried there on the ground. She moved close and knelt by him. When she did, he wrapped his arms around her and continued to cry. Blood mixed with tears and stained her shorts.

"I will Naruto, I will. Do you know where the fox is?"

"Inside...inside... The bite... Please make it go," he begged her.

"He had a mental break down," Kin said as she looked at him. "God, look at all the blood... Scrolls? He has five scrolls on him." She took them from his belt and looked. Three Earth and two heaven. She saw the scroll from Dosu on the ground for the total of six scrolls.

"Please," Sakura said to her, "help me. If we get to the tower, we'll be safe from that thing. I can't take them both."

Kin nodded and reached for Naruto. He tensed but his nose twitched and he relaxed. She helped him up and said, "You did good, you got the scrolls. We are going to the tower to get away from it."

"Won't... Won't leave... Won't stay behind," he rambled.

"It will," she told him. "Just hold out until we get there and we will get you help." Sakura picked up Sasuke and they started running.

—oo000oo—

The two scrolls Sakura threw on the ground bust into smoke. "Hello... GOOD LORD," Iruka yelled. He ran to the door and shouted out of it. "Get some medics in here!" He turned back to Naruto. "Naruto, Naruto speak to me!"

"Wolf... Wolf...fangs, claws... Bit me, bit me... Blood, there was blood, so much blood. Taste it. Won't go away. Please make it go away, Iruka-sensei." His eyes were pleading his teacher and big brother. "It is still there. Sakura said it wouldn't follow. The girl said it would stay. It is still here, I can feel it. Please make it go away." He began to cry again. "His arms... Oh god his arms..."

A moment later, Kakashi came in with several medics. "Sakura, what happened!?"

"I don't know," she told him. "We got separated and attacked. This grass ninja that was like a snake bit Sasuke-kun and poisoned him. Naruto came back only an hour ago, talking and looking like this. And we were attacked by this fox or wolf like creature. It stood on two legs for almost eight feet tall. It tore two ninja apart right in front of me and the sound ninja, Kin."

"They were my teammates," she said. "Don't make me go back out there with that thing there."

"How did you get the scroll," Kakashi asked.

"Naruto did," Kin told him. "He wondered in with five on his belt."

"He got all those by himself?"

"Yes, I don't know how," Sakura told him. "He said that a wolf bit him, he might be sick!"

Iruka looked and there in his clothes were a bite mark from some kind of canine. But it was far larger than any wolf he had heard of. "Naruto, are you okay?"

"Y-Yes, I-Iruka-sensei," he stuttered. "I can feel it."

"Feel what? Where is it?"

Naruto looked at him, scared. "Me, it is me. Oh god, the blood." His breathing suddenly slowed and he stopped shaking.

"He is going into shock!" Iruka took out a kunai and cut his shirt off. He began to check him for wounds but only found the bite. "Don't just stand there, Kakashi, I know you could care less about him but now is not the time!"

Kakashi scowled a little but went over to Naruto. Suddenly, Naruto's whole body tensed while he grit his teeth so hard they nearly cracked. What sounded like bones breaking in his chest before they expanded. His muscles grew and he grew taller. Two fox ears sprouted from his head and a tail from behind him. Outside, the full moon had come out from behind the clouds...before going back.

—oo000oo—

Kyuubi looked at how his host was right now and liked it. What better way to make him even more of an outcast.

—oo000oo—

Naruto relaxed but it didn't go away. His human ears were gone and the fox ears were on his head, twitching a little. The same thing as his tail. Iruka looked at them then to Naruto's chest. While others looked to where his seal would be, Iruka focused on the bite. He knew that there were real monsters in here which was why he never came here when he had the choice. But he never in his wildest dreams would have imagined Naruto would meet one. Or survive for that matter. "Lycan..."

"What was that, Iruka?"

"Nothing. I know what is wrong, I will get him some help. Don't worry, he should be fine soon." He picked Naruto up and carried him from the room. He ran to the room with the Hokage and kicked the door in. "I told you, 'Don't use the Forest of Death'! I told you! The First sealed it away for a reason!"

"What is wrong," Sarutobi demanded. "What happened to Naruto!?"

"He was bit by a lycanthrope. When it combined with the fox, it turned him into a fox-were."

"...Are you serious?"

"Doesn't this look serious!?" He scared the shit out of Sarutobi when he took a knife and stabbed it into Naruto's leg. The boy was so out of it, he didn't notice.

"Why doesn't it hurt, Iruka-sensei," Naruto asked, proving he was still conscious and understanding. "It should but it doesn't."

"Naruto, what happened to the wolf that bit you," Iruka asked, pulling the knife out and the wound closed almost instantly.

"It bit me and then I tore its head off... I didn't want to hurt them, Iruka-sensei," Naruto told them. "But all I knew was Sasuke and Sakura was hurt..." He began to cry again. "They were hurt and needed protecting. But what I did..." He curled up into a ball where he laid on the desk and began sobbing.

"My god, how could I let this happen," Sarutobi asked.

"My clan were demon hunters," Iruka told him. "Not ones like the Kyuubi, the weaker, more common ones. Wolfwere, or as they are more commonly known as werewolf, are born one of two ways. They are born it or they are bitten. They were almost wiped out of existence at one time before the knowledge of how to do it was lost." Naruto stopped crying and listened. "My clan still knew enough to help the First seal those that remained here. I should have pushed harder to make sure you didn't go in here, Naruto. This is my fault."

It took a long time but Naruto finally calmed down. Iruka had given him a necklace the suppressed the change. He looked at it and smelled a plant called wolf's bane. It was also made out of silver and was in the shape of a fang. "Can I go shower now," he asked, smelling the heavy scent of blood.

"Yeah, Naruto, just be careful." Sarutobi watched him leave the room. "Is he safe?"

"...It depends. If he is a normal were-fox, he will only change t during the full moon. And only into a monster."

"And if he isn't?"

"Then the Kyuubi changed him into something like a true lycanthrope and he can change whenever he wants, but will still be himself while he is."

Sarutobi was silent before asking this. "If he is the first, who do we kill him?"

"...I don't know. My family kept scrolls on it but they were destroyed when the Kyuubi attacked."

"Why Naruto? OF all the shinobi that had to find it, why him?" Sarutobi dropped into his chair, feeling like he had failed Naruto all over again. "If it is the second, how should we explain this to the younger generation?"

"Bloodline," Iruka told him. "Everything can be explained that way."

"No one will buy that," Sarutobi stated.

"You once told my class you saw a ninja with hawk wings in his back and you question Naruto having fox ears and a tail? If anything, this is only be strengthened because of his whiskers."

"So what all changed?"

"He_ should_ have immunity from all weapons. He won't be able to die by normal means, longer life, stronger, faster, better stamina, increased balance, hearing, smell. Just about every physical aspect you can think of, he has it. Including night vision. The only time his eyes won't see very well is twilight. Otherwise, he could spot a flea on a dog at night."

"Kami-sama," Sarutobi muttered.

"Exactly... You know, maybe we can use this."

"How?"

"If Naruto is safe to be around, then we can use this to explain why he has the whisker marks."

"I'm not following."

"How many died that day, including after the attack? Hundreds. It is very sad, really, that the boy we sealed the Kyuubi into died by accident. Even worst that another was mistaken as him. I feel sorry that his parents died while visiting."

Sarutobi dropped his jaw and pipe. "...Yes, the Kitsune family, I remember them visiting now. I thought that they all died. I forgot all about them in the rush of that day. So Naruto is their little boy?"

"Who's little boy," Kakashi said, walking in. "What did I miss?"

"Some friends from Uzu," Sarutobi told him. "They had fox tail and ears as well."

"So? The fox gave him his."

"That is just it, they died visiting the city with their newborn son the day of the attack."

"What are you saying, Hokage-sama?"

"He is saying, Kakashi, that the boy we all hated has no reason to be hated except for having a bloodline that makes him part fox."

"No..."

"Yes," Sarutobi told him. "He always had those whiskers because he was born with them."

"...Then where is the jinchuuriki," Kakashi demanded.

"Dead," Sarutobi told him. "Buried with who we thought were his parents."

The most hurtful expression crossed his face. "Are you sure? Are you a hundred percent sure?"

"Have you ever seen the seal, Kakashi?"

"...No."

"Neither have we," Sarutobi told him.

"But the bridge..."

"The early stages of his bloodline activating."

"...Half the village is going to feel guilty enough to commit suicide."

"They should," Iruka growled. "Are you one of them?"

"I haven't...done... No, not quite."

"But close," Iruka stated. "Just like the rest of them, always judging him because of what you thought was in him."

"I...I..."

"I am going to go see Naruto," Sarutobi told him.

—oo000oo—

Naruto got out of the shower and look at the mirror. He realized he was taller now, with less baby fat. He looked better than he had ever before, like he had been nourished growing up. And his muscles looked...ripped. He looked down from the mirror and widened his eyes. "...Damn...I wonder if that thing is going to bite someone."

Someone knocked on the bathroom door. "Naruto, it is the Hokage."

He grabbed a towel, wrapped it around his waist, and said, "Come in."

Sarutobi entered, drew a seal on the door, and looked at him. "Naruto, what I am about to tell you stays between us, okay?"

"Of course, Old Man. What is it?"

"You are changing identities."

—oo000oo—

Naruto sat down on the bathtub edge and smiled. "Who knew you could be so sneaky? We should go pranking sometime, the fun we could have."

"I just need to draw this seal over the other and it will never be seen again."

"Draw away," Naruto told him. "Total dismemberment," Naruto told him as he painted.

"What?"

"I killed that thing by tearing its head off. It stands to reason that if you do the same to me, I am dead. Promise you will, should I start to attack people I know."

"...I will, Naruto."

"Thanks," he said quietly. When Sarutobi finished, Naruto charged his chakra and the seal did not return.

"Perfect," Sarutobi said. "I will go announce this to the council. They will deny it, say I am lying, but with the proof on you and no one ever actually seeing you using the Kyuubi's chakra, they will agree and try to make reparations."

"Okay..." Naruto reached for his clothes and remembered how torn up they are. "Can you get me more clothes please?"

"I will get some of your old ones. After the next exam, we will get you some next clothes."

"Okay." He grabbed his pants and underwear and began to rinse them out. "Will this work?"

"I think it will. In fact, it isn't that uncommon." Naruto looked at him incredulously. "Well, not the circumstance. But what I meant was a Kekkei Genkai that changes a person into an animal. You've heard of the Seven Swordsmen of Mist, correct?"

"Zabuza's old group."

"One of their members looks like a shark."

"Oh... Cool." Once he got the blood out of them, he set them on the bathtub edge to dry. When he did, he noticed his hands were shaking and he grabbed them with the other. "That helps me with the village and all but what about me turning into that thing?"

"For now, we don't anything. The necklace will keep you in line so don't worry." There was another knock at the door. Sarutobi looked out of it and found Iruka holding a set of Naruto's clothing. He took it and gave it to him.

But when Naruto tried it on, he frowned. The shirt didn't fit at all. He had to wear his jacket open. And his pants were too short now. "...No choice." He ripped the sleeves off his jacket and then he tore off his pants legs just below the knees. He picked up his head from where he had set it and tied it around his head. "Ow, ow, ow!" He took it off before it hurt his ears more. "Man." He tied it around his neck instead.

"A little rough but nice," Sarutobi commented. "Most likely you will be called before the council, Naruto. When they do, remain calm, just remember, you are not a jinchuuriki.

"I will," Naruto said with a sigh.

—oo000oo—

He was walking down the hall when all of a sudden his ears twitched and he ducked. A shuriken flew over his head. "What happened to you, dobe," Sasuke said in an evil sounding voice. Naruto turned around and saw Sasuke with these strange marks on his face.

"I could ask the same of you, teme," he growled. "Get tattoos while I was getting the scrolls?"

"Like you..."

"Sasuke-kun, please calm down," Sakura said to him. "Naruto is telling the truth. He got them, almost dying to do it. There is a monster in the forest that I watched pick apart a team. Naruto met it and survived."

"Not unscathed," Naruto commented. "What happened, Sasuke, I know you didn't have those things when I checked on you an hour ago."

"What happened to it," Sasuke asked.

"...It bit me and I tore its head off while it did. That what you want to here? Now what about you."

"Who did it kill?"

"The Sound team is all I known," Sakura told him.

"...Then you have gotten stronger. I want to test that strength." He ran at Naruto and punched in the ribs. Naruto didn't move and there was a crack from breaking bone. "My hand!"

"What did you do, Naruto," Sakura yelled as she ran over.

"You saw it, I didn't move!"

She looked over Sasuke's hand. "One of the bones is just cracked. A medic can have it fixed in a moment."

"No, I will fight him first."

"With a broken hand," Naruto asked. He pointed at it. "All I have to do it tap it and you would be down, go to a medic." Naruto turned and walked away. As he walked he caught the smell of dog. Kiba was here. He found himself growling and covered his mouth.

"I know a fox is here somewhere," he heard Kiba say, running down the hall. He and Akamaru skidded to a stop. "Naruto!? What happened to you!?"

"Finally activated my bloodline," Naruto told him. He looked behind him. "Hey Shino, Hinata-chan... Something wrong, Hinata?"

Her face was bright red as she looked at him and was speaking slowly. "Naruto-kun...fox ears...those ears... They...are...so...KUWAI!" Naruto didn't have time to react, Hinata tackled him to the ground and started playing with his ears. "They are so soft! I love them, I love them, I love them!" Shino did nothing but stare at her and push his sunglasses back up his face. Kiba was gaping at the sight.

"Let her go, you dumb fox!"

Naruto took a moment to answer. "Why...is everyone...saying...I'm doing things...I'm not? Ah, right there, right there....Ah." Hinata grinned as she played with him. She blew in his ear and his whole body tensed while his ear twitched out of her fingers. "Uh, Hinata-chan, please don't do that again and get off me." She froze and slowly looked down at his face. Her face turned crimson before she fell limp. "Hinata? Kiba, Shino, can you help me, she passed out." They picked her up. "Thanks."

"I have been trying to figure out how to get her to like me and you do that in ten seconds," Kiba growled.

Naruto shrugged, "Its a curse I must live with now."

"Curse my ass!"

"Why would you want to curse your ass," Naruto asked him. He picked up the end of his tail and looked at Hinata. "Hinata? Hinata, are you going to wake up?" He began brushing her nose with it. "Hinata-chaaaaan." She moved her head a little and muttered about kuwai ears. "Wow, she is really out of it. Well, see ya around." He leg go of his tail and began to walk away. "Tail, tail, tail!" He turned around to find that Hinata had grabbed it in her sleep. He looked at Kiba. "Does she do this to Akamaru?"

"No."

"...I guess I am just unlucky." His ears twitched and he looked behind him. He saw Ino staring at him. "Ino...don't."

"...Look at his chest...and those ears... Is that Naruto... Must resist... Count back from ten. Ten, nine... Screw it. KUWAI!"

"Shino, incoming!" Kiba and Shino stepped away from Naruto before he was thrown back.

"My god, just feel his chest! And the ears!"

Kiba looked down at him, "Oh yeah, real unlucky, you bastard."

"Help, please... My ears..."

"Think we should," he asked Shino.

"...I believe Shikamaru would say it would be too troublesome." He walked away, Kiba followed after freeing Naruto's tail from Hinata and picked her up.

"Ino, get off me," Naruto told him. "Don't grab that!"

"What's wrong Naruto," she said somewhat seductively. "Don't like a girl running her hands over your chest?"

"We are in the hallway, you know."

"I see, you would prefer a bedroom then?" Naruto blushed deep red and started scrambling to get away. Ino fell to the ground and got up to see Naruto running on all fours down the hall.

"Come back, Kitsune-kun!" She got up and tried to follow him but quickly lost him. "Where did he go?" She looked around but didn't see him. "Oh where, oh where, has my little fox gone? Oh where, oh where, could he be?" Above her, Naruto was praying she didn't look up to see him pressing his arms and legs against the wall. She walked away and Naruto dropped down after five minutes.

"Thank Kami." He turned down a hall way and bumped into another girl. "Damn it."

She had buns in her hair and a slight blush on her face upon seeing his chest. "...Nice. But why did you just say damn it?"

"You aren't going to jump me, screaming 'Kuwai'?"

"The thought did enter my mind but no I won't."

"Cool. Save me."

"From what?"

"Hinata Hyuuga and Yamanaka Ino. Oh god, what if the proctor for this exam sees me... She is scary."

Tenten laughed. "That she is. What team are you in?"

"Seven."

"Ah, Kakashi's team. Your room is down the hall, second door on the right. And it has a lock. You still have three days so try to hang in there."

"You're a life saver, thank you." He ran down the hall and into the room.

Tenten chuckled, "Honestly, why did he hide his physique with that orange jumpsuit? He is so hot... Did I just say that?"

—oo000oo—

Kyuubi was furious! This was not supposed to be how it was! The vixen that obviously liked his host had just jumped on him, wanting to mate with him! And... And... And Kyuubi never realized that he felt what his host did. He swayed around a few times before falling to the ground, feeling his host get his ears rubbed.

—oo000oo—

It was noon when Naruto opened the door a little. He saw Iruka standing there. "Hey Naruto, how you feeling?"

Naruto opened the door, looked around to make sure it was safe and pulled his sensei into the room. "It is a mad house out there! I don't know what it is but Hinata and Ino are acting strange! They jumped me and rubbed my ears. A third girl almost did but she has better self control!"

"..." Iruka began to chuckle which turned into full blown laughter. "Wow, Naruto, a sex idol."

"Its not funny! I'm not safe out there!"

"Well, I can't help you with that. Here, a gift." He tossed a cloth wrapped object to him. "For killing the last werewolf."

Naruto pulled the cloth off and found a sword with a ring at the end of the handle. The hilt and sheath were bronze wrapped wood. He pulled it from the sheath and saw the name. "Shuurai? Why is it called Lightning Strike?"

"Don't know," Iruka told him. "It is said that it could call lightning to its will."

"Really? Then why give it to me?"

"Well, I am just giving you a sword. Several have tried to get that sword to do it but no one could."

"Too back..." He took a good look at it. It was a straight, double bladed Chinese bastard sword. Meant to be held in two hand or one. The hilt looked a little like an H in how it wrapped around the sheath and the handle. "Thank you, sensei."

"Now, you have to promise me that though you have it, you won't use it until you know how."

"I promise." He gave Iruka one of his real smiles. "I will only use the sword until I know how to."

"Good," Iruka told him. "Now, I know that my time as your sensei is over but how would you like me to show you the basics of swordsmanship?"

"That would be great."

—oo000oo—

"...Please say you are lying," Councilman Haruno stated. "Don't lie to us, Sarutobi."

Sarutobi jumped to his feet, faking his anger very well at being called a liar. He walked over to Haruno and looked slammed his hands down on his desk. "Look deep into my eyes and tell them what you see."

Haruno swallowed, in truth, he saw his death there. "I don't see you lying to us."

"The Kitsunes were coming to join, I can only guess that the Fourth kept it secret because they were a small clan that few people cared about."

"But... What of the jinchuuriki," Homura asked.

"You mean Minato's son," Sarutobi asked. "Though it pains me to say, he was lucky and died, taking the fox with him."

"The Yondiame used his own son," Hiashi asked, shocked.

"Who else would he have used? Your daughter? Sasuke? Sakura? Shikamaru? Ino, Choji, Shino, Kiba?" He just listed most of the children of the council members. "They are all of the right age. He could have asked any of you to do it. Instead, he looked to his own son to hold back a monster that is hell bent on destroying this village. And I am glad he didn't live to see the 'hero' treatment that his father asked for. I only regret that Naruto was mistaken as him."

They were silent for the longest time. "...How can we make this up to him," Haruno had the nerve to ask.

"You want to make it up, Haruno," Inoichi asked. "When you said you would handle the situation in the first place? Look how that ended. The last member of a clan that never fully was inducted into Konoha was treated like a monster."

"If I had only know, I would have handled it differently!"

"We shouldn't have had to handle it differently," Hiashi stated. He felt bile rising in his throat. "Our Fourth Hokage asked that we treat his son like a hero. While the boy may have died, we didn't know that. And we treated Naruto like hell, knowing what the Fourth wanted. And now that his real heritage has been revealed, not only can he revoke his position as a ninja of the Leaf, he can leave Leaf all together and we couldn't stop him. Even the ninja families have signed an agreement. We never did that with Naruto as we all thought his family did."

Danzou sighed, "We could always not tell him." Everyone looked at him like he was stupid. "Just a thought."

"Actually, his suggestion has merit," Koharu stated. "Naruto does not know so why tell him?"

"We don't have to," Sarutobi told them. "He already knows, at least him being of a clan that came not long before the attack. More over, even if he didn't, I would tell him anyway."

"Are you trying to cost us a Kekkei Genkai," Danzou asked.

"No. But he has had enough hell in his life. And you want to force him to work for a village that he owes nothing? That owes him. No, I have sat on my hand for _far_ too long concerning Naruto. I am going to make amends and if Naruto decides to leave, that is his choice. I hope he doesn't but... Well, it is nothing we can change."

"How did Uzumaki, er, Kitsune... How did Naruto even find out," Shikaku asked.

"Iruka brought him to me, thinking Naruto was very sick. I recognized it for what it was when I saw it and it slipped. The Kitsune are supposed to be dead so you can imagine my surprise when one is laid on my desk."

"Wait, wait, we are getting ahead of ourselves," Haruno said. "What if this is just the fox's doing? We could be talking about this over nothing."

Sarutobi sighed even though he expected this. "You do have a valid point. But then that means he is the son of the Fourth." They paled at that. "Which is even worst, but that matters not right now. If Naruto is the son of the Fourth and the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko, then he will have a seal on his body when he channels chakra. If not, he will nothing. Either way, he is owed reparation for what was done."

"...He does look a lot like the Fourth," Shibi stated. "Maybe we should have guessed that he was related before hand so we wouldn't even be having this discussion." Sarutobi smirked, in more ways than one, he was right.

"When can we get him to show us," Chouza asked.

"We don't have to," Sarutobi told them. "In changing, he has grown a considerable amount. He can no long wear his shirts and has his jacket unzipped. He tore the sleeves off and changed his pants to shorts to fit better. All we have to do is watch his match in the third exam, or prelims if we have any, and we will know."

Several of them nodded, relieved that they wouldn't have to talk to him and worsen their position with him. "What would be fair compensation," Danzou asked.

"What should have been his," the Hokage said. "Minato had a home, I have had genin do D missions to keep it clean while I searched it for scrolls and such that may hold jutsu. I have found several but none of the power or skill of the Rasengan or Hiroshin. The only reference of those were the note that he wouldn't write them down. He only trusted them to people close to him."

"...That is fair," Hiashi stated. "A real home and some jutsu scrolls. But I purpose that he only receives them if he stays. He is welcome the house but jutsus belong to ninja."

"Agreed," Sarutobi told him. "Naruto will be allowed to stay in Konoha no matter what. If he decides to stay a ninja, he will have access to the scrolls. If not, they will be split among the clans to which ever can best use them. Should he leave, though?"

Inoichi shrugged, "Pay him enough money to keep his feet for a bit. But not enough to give him a big head so that he will be worst off than before when it is gone." Many there nodded that it was more than fair, that it was the right thing to do.

"Settled then," Sarutobi said, sitting back down. "I am glad that we didn't have to argue over this. Like everything else in the village."

"Complaining, Hokage-sama," Inoichi asked with a smirk.

"Yeah, I am. I am too damn old for this shit. One of you young ninja should be going blind because of paperwork, not me!"

The was a collective hell no in response.

—oo000oo—

Naruto fell asleep that night and dreamed he was in a fox den. And that he was an eight foot tall humanoid fox. _**"Hello,"**_ he called, scaring himself with his voice.

"_**About time my prison warden came for a visit."**_ Naruto spun around and saw a fox with nine tails. **_"Hello kit."_** He began to laugh like he said the funniest thing in the world. _**"So how do you like being a demon?"**_

"_**...Did you have girls jumping on you to rub your ears?"**_

"_**The few times I changed into a human, yes. Feels good, doesn't it?"**_

"_**It does. You know, I expected you to talk down to me or something like that."**_

"_**I talk down to humans,"**_ Kyuubi corrected.

Naruto sat down and sighed, _**"Which I no longer am."**_

"_**Correct. Because of me, you are a full blooded Kitsunethrope."**_

"_**A what?"**_

"_**It is the technical term for werefox."**_

"_**Just how many were-animals are there?"**_

"_**Bears, ravens, wolves, foxes, sea lion, tiger, raccoon-dog, jackals, cougar, leopards, panda..."**_

"_**I think I understand, a lot," **_Naruto stated. **_"What does this mean for me though?"_**

"_**Metal aside from silver will not harm you. You will regenerate any wound so long as your head is intact. After that first night, you can change when you want."**_

Naruto rubbed his muzzle for a few minutes. _**"That would have been handy against Haku. And those drunks when I was younger."**_

"_**Too true, kit. So..."**_

"_**So."**_

"_**...Which one do you like rubbing your ears the most," **_Kyuubi asked with a sly grin.

Naruto blushed under his fur. _**"...Hinata, definitely Hinata, she does it softer."**_

—oo000oo—

Naruto had climbed up the wall to watch the matches. Because he swore that Anko was looking him up and down. Not to mention it was crowded on the balcony with the Council there watching. He didn't doubt that one of the girls would use it as an excuse to grab him, and his ears, the main target. No matter what Kiba said, he was truly cursed now. "Uzumaki Naruto and Tenten." Naruto jumped down and entered a fighting stance. His necklace was gone now as he didn't want to land on it wrong and kill himself.

Tenten jumped over the edge and looked at Naruto. "This is so unfair. You better not try to look cute at me!"

"I wouldn't dare," Naruto told her. Before he made his eyes water, an ear bend, and whimpered a little. Tenten tried hard to fight it while wanting to be mad at him for it as well. It just wasn't working so well for her.

"I said don't try to be cute!"

"Am I trying? Or doing?" Up on the balcony, Kiba, Choji, and Shikamaru were laughing so hard that they fell over. Naruto didn't even have to use a jutsu and he could win right now.

Tsume found it hard to fight herself. "That should be a forbidden jutsu."

"We have found a new spy," Hiashi stated.

Over with Team Gai, Lee couldn't decide if this was fair or not. "Gai-sensei, is that in the springtime of youth?"

He didn't answer for a moment. "It is the sneakiest thing I have ever seen, Lee. But it is only the use of his natural abilities to their fullest. We both should strive until we can think of creative ways like that to beat opponent!" He pumped his fist into the air as he finished.

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!" Their unbreakable genjutsu began to form but was stopped when someone tapped them on the shoulder.

"Uh, not to bother your little moment," Naruto said to them, crouching on the railing. "But you are interrupting the match." Many were looking at where he was to where he is. Naruto leaned back and flipped before landing on the ground. "Ready, Tenten?"

"And willing!"

Gekkou raised a hand and dropped it, "Begin!"

Tenten began by throwing several kunai at vitals. Naruto, wanting to test just how well his body functioned now, moved his arms to block them. He felt a sting where they hit but nothing else. "Well that wasn't much of a match," Tenten told them. "With those there, you won't be able to use your hands."

"Actually, I can," Naruto told her. With a grin, he pulled them out and showed her. The wound closed as soon as it was free to. The ones on his other arm were slowly being pushed out. They clattered to the floor, shattering the silence.

"Holy shit!" Everyone looked at the speaker, Aburame Shibi. It was the most logical thing he could think of saying. Here was a boy with a Kekkei Genkai that any village would sell their soul for and Naruto was about to show it off to the world before making his decision about staying or going.

"Cunning child," Shukaku told his friends having come to the same conclusion.

Back in the arena, Tenten had dropped her arms, not believe that Naruto could do that. Her jaw worked for a moment to say something but nothing came out. She did the only thing she could. "Dragon Twister!" This was supposed to be her ace in the hole, a true jutsu. She summoned all of her weapons at once, not one at a time at a high speed, and threw them all in a wall of blades. Naruto dropped his jaw, threw his arms up to cover his head, and wrapped his tail around them for more protection. And prayed that it was thick enough. The sound of metal hitting the floor and flesh was heard after that. Naruto was a pin cushion. Sarutobi dropped his jaw at all the blood freely flowing from Naruto's still body. He still stood but with kunai even in his heart, he knew he had died. His arms then fell to his side, and his tail back behind him. His eye was twitching, the only movement left in him.

"Damn..." Sasuke said, kind of saddened. Naruto survived all they had done only to die here because a girl panicked.

"Winner by..."

"Ow..." Naruto wheezed. He reached up and began to pull weapons out of his body. "That...hurt...a lot."

"Not possible," Hiashi muttered. "He should be dead... It just isn't possible." Haruno looked like he was going to be sick at the thought of this ability getting in the hands of another village. All of a sudden, Hinata passed out from a nosebleed. "Huh? What caused her to do that?" He looked at Naruto as he finished pulling out all the knives, shuriken, swords, and other blades. His clothes weren't even rags anymore, and they hid nothing. "...Well shit."

"No way is that normal," Kiba shouted.

Confused, Naruto looked down at what he pointed at. His arms and tail then shot down to cover himself. "Uh, can I get some pants?"

"...Winner by knockout, Uzumaki Naruto." Everyone looked at Tenten who's shirt was now stain red with blood from her nose, as well as on the ground in a similar state as Hinata. "Good thing he didn't hit her with that, it would have killed her," Hayate muttered.

When he was proclaimed the winner, Naruto ran out and began his search for clothes. Up on the balcony, Sarutobi realized that he didn't even use enough chakra for them to be certain that the seal _wasn't_ there. "...We'll have him demonstrate to us later."

"How," Tsume asked. "Each and every councilwoman won't be able to look at him from now on! Just look at the female jonin!" He did and saw they were all frozen excepted Anko. She shook herself and took on a look of lust. "Anko, don't you dare!"

"But...he... By law he is an adult!" Sarutobi sighed and decided to tell Naruto what slot he was in when he talked to the council.

—oo000oo—

"Uzumaki Naruto, you are called in front of this council to answer a few questions," Koharu said, a slight blush on her wizened face. She could not believe a child was making her feel this.

"As a Leaf shinobi, I am honored to," Naruto replied.

"First, we would like you to channel chakra," Homura told him. "This is to see if there is any effects by it." They were grateful that he had recreated his attire from the match. To have him strip for it would have been too much for some of them.

Naruto nodded and channeled enough chakra to use the use the tree climbing exercise. "Is this enough?"

"More please, say for a hundred Kage Bunshin," Danzou told him. "You are familiar with that jutsu, correct?"

"Of course, sir, it is my favorite." He drew the chakra out and had it dancing along his skin. Still no seal. "I can go more if you would like."

"No, that is fine," Sarutobi told him. "What else would the council like to ask?"

Shukaku stood. "What caused it to activate?"

"I was thrown from my team by a gust of wind. I came to realize later that it was an attack. I was thrown deeper into the forest where a wolf like creature attacked me. Nothing I did to it slowed it. It attacked me and I knew I was going to die. Then my wounds began to heal. It bit me, trying to tear me apart and I sort of lost it. I found myself growing bigger and became something like a werewolf. But I had a bushy tails that was yellow and I was slimmer. Like a fox. I grabbed it by the jaws and tore the top of its head off. And... I wish not to remember the rest of the night until the Old Man...the Hokage helped me."

"You changed into fox," Hiashi asked, making sure he heard him right.

"No... It was like a fox...but stood on two legs and was over eight feet tall. I still had my hands but they were claws instead. Please, enough about that."

"Just one more thing, Naruto," Tsume asked him. "Is that why we found you with four extra scrolls?" Naruto was shaking by then, remembering the taste of the blood. "Never mind, I think we got our answer. Put it out of your mind...if you can."

"Do you know of any other ability," Shibi asked.

"No, just that I heal damage and that I change into that thing."

"I think we are forgetting the most important question here," Danzou told them. "Do you regret what you did to get those scrolls?" A simple enough question, an answer that told a great deal. Was Naruto a monster, being the fore most.

"...More than you can imagine," Naruto said, hearing the screams again. He wrapped his arms around his body, feeling really cold right then.

"That is enough," Sarutobi told him. "Your match is first, Naruto, with Kiba."

"Who all passed?"

"Hyuuga Neji, Sabaku no Gaara and Kankuro, Sasuke, Kiba, you, Shikamaru, and Choji."

"None of the girls?"

"They were preoccupied," Hiashi told him. Inoichi and Haruno both dropped their heads into their hands at how their daughters were disqualified for not being able to get down to the arena. "May I ask... You know, never mind. I am suggesting you get armored boxers or something if you don't want that to happen again."

Tsume was blushing, "Please do."

Naruto looked around and realized that all of the women were blushing. "What, its not like any other guy doesn't have one. I'm sure the councilmen have to rival that...right?" No one answered. "Hot damn... You mean I am..."

"I will put to you straight, Naruto," Sarutobi told him. "Down there, you are not fox or human, you are a horse."

"Still not big enough," someone muttered.

"Anyway, Naruto, this has established that you are a member of a clan that never signed an agreement to join Konoha. Which means that you can quit being a ninja or leave Konoha if you wanted and no one could stop you."

Naruto was surprised by that. "...Nani?"

"You can leave, quit, or stay," Sarutobi told him. The choice is up to up."

"No... No more being a ninja for Konoha? Or having to be insulted all the time? I can just pack up and go, just like that."

"We won't stop you, we couldn't stop you," Danzou said with a sigh of regret. "What could we do, threaten to kill you if you didn't stay?"

"Well, I wish you hadn't put it that way," Naruto told him. "...I don't want to sound like a materialistic weasel but what would I get out of any of them?"

"You stay, no matter what, you get a better home," Hiashi told him. "If you stay as a ninja, you get some of the scrolls of the Fourth as well." Naruto's eyes were the size of dinner plates at that. "If you leave...You could pretty much have the world offered to you. I won't lie, you are exactly what every ninja village is looking in a nin. Determined, strong and the desire to be stronger, and, most importantly, unstoppable. You can't be killed, and when you fight, you fight to the death. Your Kekkei Genkai, for what little it does, is the most powerful I have ever heard of..." That took a lot for him to admit. Naruto never thought about leaving before. Despite the bad treatment, he loved Konoha. He loved Iruka. He loved Ayame-neesan and Teuchi-san. He loved the time he spent with the Old Man. And when he did a mission with his team...even if they weren't much of a team after the mission. No, leaving was not an option. But no reason to let them think that.

"...I cannot decide," he told them. "All of them have something desirable about it. So, I propose this, I wait until after the Chunin exam to make my final decision." He was about to be interrupted but he continued. "I live in the home you were going to give me, _without_ the scrolls. Except maybe one or two to catch my interest. Fair?"

Sarutobi frowned, "It is."

"But... You have to let someone of those coming know that I am able to go to their village as well. I want to be fair in this." He was enjoying the tormented looks on their faces. Maybe it wasn't so bad to be a fox demon after all, it was a license to prank. Then, afterwards, I give my decision to the council and to any ninja or country that is interested. If that is alright by this council, of course. If not, I can give an answer now." The way he said it, told them he would take what they would in his situation.

"We will wait," Danzou told him. "You show a rough but good hand at politics, Uzumaki. Maybe you wouldn't be a bad choice for Hokage after all."

He smiled before saying, "And give up pranks? No. Well, maybe not yet. Is there any other question this council has?"

Sarutobi felt disappointed in Naruto but understood his decision. As far as he knew, he had no reason to stay. "No, we do not. Train hard during this month, Naruto. I expect a teal match coming up."

"And you will get it, Hokage-sama," Naruto said before bowing to him. When he straightened, he winked at Sarutobi and he understood it all right then and there. Naruto wanted them to sweat over nothing. But what Sarutobi realized and Naruto didn't was that someone just might make him want to leave, especially if the villagers didn't stop treating him poorly.

"We have a big problem," he said when Naruto was gone. Outside, Naruto heard him speaking. "I don't need to ask what each of you would have chosen right. You all, as well as myself, in his shoes would have said right off, I'm leaving. So we have a chance to keep him here. I am going to ruin Naruto's fun, he has no plan of leaving. He may quit being a ninja, but he won't leave his home."

"Then how do we have a problem," Hiashi asked.

"Baki," Haruno stated. "He saw it, he is going to tell everyone he can that he saw a boy get almost get cut to pieces and all that happened was he pulled them out. As soon as word also gets out that Naruto is able to leave the Hidden Leaf, they will come by the dozens."

"...Naruto my have no intention of leaving," Shikaku said, "but minds changed when there is enough reason. Forget dozens, every hidden village and even countries without a hidden village will come to talk to him. And all we have to offer to him is our apologies and a house. Can you imagine if they are able to breed his Kekkei Genkai!? An army of unstoppable ninja, all with his balance, speed, and endurance. Hokage-sama, maybe it would be better if we..."

"You better not be thinking what I think you are," Sarutobi told him. "Naruto is the most noble soul in this village just put in bad circumstances. I will not put him in prison if he chooses not to stay."

Naruto widened his eyes until he thought they would fall out of his head, and backed up. He tripped and hit the floor with a thump. The door was thrown open and Naruto was there, looking at Sarutobi with fear. He started to kick his feet to push himself away from him, got turned around, and started running. Not three feet away, he changed into a werefox and jumped through a window. "What have we done," Sarutobi whispered, watching the yellow fox run quickly out of site.

—oo000oo—

Naruto didn't know how long he ran. He didn't even know where he was. All he could think of was getting away from there. _**"It was just a prank... I wasn't going to leave! It was just a prank!" **_He knew he didn't hear all of it but hearing the Old Man say 'I will...put him in prison...not stay' scared him. The man he trusted almost more than Iruka-sensei was going to put him in prison if he tried to leave. It must have been days by now, every muscle burned, and he wanted almost nothing more than to rest. He finally collapsed from exhaustion and fell. He didn't even realize that he had made it to a village until, in his rolling, he knocked several people over. When he stopped, he just laid there, tears coming from his yellow eyes.

People were scared, thinking that he was a demon that came to attack them. But Naruto didn't do anything, too tired to move, too scared to sleep. Finally, he saw someone move a little closer. He tried to move back, thinking this people might want to betray him as well in his tired mind. "...Its a ninja," he heard the person say. "It is okay so, just drop the henge and we will take care of you." Naruto didn't move for a moment but he nodded. He turned back into his demon hybrid and and laid there, tears now viewable without his fur. "What happened?"

"...He was going to betray me... He took care of me and he was going to lock me away in prison. I didn't do anything bad and he..."

"You're from leaf, right? We will send word..."

"NO! They are the ones that betrayed me! I was being given the potion to leave or stay, and I wanted them to sweat over nothing... And the Hokage said he would put me in prison if I left."

The man nodded and picked Naruto up and held him close. "It's alright son. You don't have to go back, you can stay here. There is a temple that you will be safe at. There is even a girl there your age that you can play with and protect if you want."

"...What's her name?"

"Shion. She is the Head Priestess daughter."

"Where am I?"

"The Land of Demons."

—oo000oo—

Author Notes: Another filler story while I work on the next chapters of my main stories. What do you think? Where should I take this? You know, when I put, 'The Land of Demons' there, I knew that was where I had to stop it. You just don't get a better stopping point. And it is ironic, a demon living in the Land of Demons. What could be better? Tell me what you think, I want to here it before this break from my mains is over.


	2. Confrontations

Orochimaru was furious. Why? Because of one ninja, Uzumaki Naruto. He had it all planned out, Sound and Sand would invade, the few ninja from the other villages would be insignificant casualties. No one would care if maybe a dozen total from Rock, Cloud, and Mist died. Konoha would be dead and they would celebrate. And then it happened. Word spread that Konoha was currently playing host to a ninja that had no loyalty to any village. This ninja, the Kyuubi Brat, couldn't die! Everyone, including himself, wanted him for their own. And as he was a free agent, no kidnapping was needed. At first, it sounded like a dream come true. But the early reports of those attending came in and they were staggering. _Every_ ninja village was there, even the Hidden Snow. Forget hotels, Kages were camping three miles from Konoha just to have a chance to see him. There wasn't even going to be standing room in the stadium. They all wanted a piece of him. Even if Orochimaru could kill them all, people would notice. And they would be very upset. The Kazekage pulled out after only reading the first page. Not a single Suna ninja went there aside from the team that passed and those trying to recruit Uzumaki. Leaving only around five hundred to kill roughly ten thousand. Not going to happen. He couldn't even try to assassinate Sarutobi. And in the end? Uzumaki wasn't even there. It was slow, the word of it leaking out but it spread like wild fire when it did. The boy had heard something he wasn't, that if he left, they might imprison him, and he did what a boy does, he ran. Except, unlike other boys, he ran so fast and hard, he tore through a building and was out of the country before the end of the day. Hunter ninja couldn't track him, he was a ghost. So, everyone left to find that ghost. And Orochimaru realized he had dismantled his plan for no reason. And it was too late, the Chunin exams ended like normal with the old man alive. The benefit of all this? Just one, Sasuke was also furious. After all, he was an Uchiha and only those from his village stayed to watch him fight. Not even the two Sand ninja _in_ the finals stayed. Not only was he insignificant, so was all of Konoha, compared to this one boy. And no one could find him, because no one knew what he looked like but the tight lipped Suna. And there wasn't going to be another chance like this again for years. Twice a year, over fifty villages, in twenty five years, he could try the plan again. Hopefully. Until then, he had to make do with the consolation prize. Sasuke barely needed any encouraging to leave. He had already sent his Sound Four to talk with him.

—oo000oo—

"So, Naruto, how do you feel," the doctor ask as he finished his exam.

"Better," Naruto told him. "I really like it here."

"We are glad you do," Shion's mother, Melfena, said to him. "So, what is the verdict?"

"He is as healthy as a horse and build like a, pardon the language, brick shit house. I bent three needles trying to draw his blood. One even broke off inside him and it was forced out. This boy is something else." They heard a whimper and a thump. Turning around they saw Shion behind Naruto playing with his ears. Melfena giggled at the blissful expression on his face. "By the way, um...did you know he..."

"He what?" The doctor whispered in her ear and the smile was wiped from her face. "Nine inches?" She looked at the boy and blushed.

"Anyway, Naruto, I have the results from you blood test. Perfect health. You are the pinnacle of what a human should be. Excepted you aren't human." Both Shion and Melfina snapped their gaze at him while Naruto didn't look surprise. "And you already know, huh?"

"I did."

"What is he then?"

"I am a Kitsunethrope," Naruto told them.

"Correct, half his DNA is that of a human while the other half is a foxes. But the thing is, they change back and forth from strand to strand," the doctor told them.

Naruto sighed as he helped Shion off him and stood up. "I guess this is good bye then."

"Why," Melfena asked.

"I'm a demon, no one wants a demon around..."

"Naruto, I have seen real demons, you maybe technically one but you are too sweet to be one."

"I..."

"You are staying," Shion said, poking him in the chest. "I finally have a friend, I am not losing you now." Naruto looked around and didn't even see hatred in the doctor. "So, will you stay willingly or do I need to get a leash and collar?"

"Like you could," Naruto said with a smile.

"Oh yeah!?" She pulled one out of her robes, showing she already planned it. She lunged at Naruto, who ducked, and ran out the room, laughing. Shion followed, calling someone to stop that run away fox.

"I don't care that he is a demon," the doctor told Melfena. "He is only a child."

"I don't either. But what could his village have done to him to put him in the state we found him in?"

"I can't say, he won't talk about it. But I know this, he will make a great guardian when he grows older."

"I know he will. Thank you."

"I am glad to do it, more than you could imagine. Some of the blood sample accidentally got mixed with the water of one of our lab rats and cured it of a disease with we were studying. True, it is now a Kitsunethrope but this could be the break through the medical field has been looking for. We have already called Tsunade of the Sannin to come and examine it. If it works, then we will have a cure for cancer, AIDS, the deadliest diseases on the planet. All thanks because Naruto wondered into our lives."

"...What about demonic taint?"

"Yes, I have been wondering about that myself. The rat is now a demon as well but unlike Naruto, it is a foot tall monster when it changes. Naruto wouldn't hurt a fly, that thing, when it changed, was a rabid predator. Which means until we can unlock what it is that heals it, we can do nothing with what we have found."

"Why is Naruto different?"

"He was born with it. He appears to be a true Kitsunethrope, meaning his children will be for sure, and just like him, can change at will. But to things that are tainted, like that rat, they have no control."

"Make sure you don't make others then, we don't want it to spread uncontrolled."

"We have been taking every precaution. It is normally just a rat so we aren't worried. It was only during the pass full moon that it changed. Just like the legend. Never thought that it was real though."

"Okay, again, thank you." Melfena walked out and saw Naruto on the ceiling while Shion stomped around on the floor, wanting him to play fair. "Time to head back you two."

"Okay," they said.

—oo000oo—

Naruto sat on the roof of the temple in his white robes. The sleeves were too long and so were the legs but he could change in them and they fit perfect. He wore over them black armor that was held in place by metal straps that had fangs on them and went over his shoulder. Crouching like he was right then, he thought of that character Inuyasha from the anime. "I fought the sleeves and the sleeves won," he said in a joke. He nose caught a coppery smell that he knew all too well. Blood. He check Shuurai on his back, changed, and started running. It was an army of stone soldiers. They were making their way here. Not if he had anything to say about it. But first he had to report back.

He ran to the village and jumped, changing in the air, and landing on the tower. "An army is coming from the east," he told the guard. "Sound the alarm and get everyone out of here!"

"Right." He started hitting the bell and shouted, "Evacuate! An army is coming! Evacuate! Naruto, go see to the priestess and her daughter!"

"Roger." He jumped off and started running. He got to the temple and saw Shion was awake and so was her mother. "We need to evacuate, an army of..."

"Clay soldiers is approaching. Naruto, take Shion from here."

"What about you!?"

"The army is being lead by a demon and it has come for me."

"Then I should stay!"

Melfena smiled at him. "Naruto, you are strong but you are not strong enough to fight him"

"But I..."

"Shion needs to be protected," she said, silencing him. "That is your job now. I will defeat the demon, do not doubt."

"Mom, but what if you don't," Shion asked, afraid.

"I will, don't worry." She patted both children on the head. "The statues will fall over when it is defeated, that is when it is safe to come out. Naruto, go." He nodded, placed Shion on his back, and started running. He was on the mountains when he stopped. As he looked down, he felt the desire to go back.

"...She is going to die," Shion said sadly. "I know she will."

Naruto was silent for a long while. "I have to speak with someone." He sat down in the lotus position and laid his sword on his lap.

—oo000oo—

Naruto was back in the den and found the Kyuubi eating a deer. _**"I need some help."**_

"_**It is **__**Moryo. He is a demon of greed. Pretty weak but if he takes the Priestesses' power, that would change."**_

"_**How do I kill him?"**_

Kyuubi stopped eating and smirked. _**"How would you commit suicide?"**_

"_**Silver."**_

"_**And...?"**_

"_**By totally destroying it."**_

"_**Bingo, kit."**_

"_**Can I though?"**_

"_**Now that is up to you to determine. If nothing else though, you will slow him long enough for Melfena to do her job."**_

"_**Thank you."**_

—oo000oo—

Naruto opened his eyes and stood up. "It is after your mom," he told Shion.

"WHAT!?"

"It wants the power your mom possesses. Don't worry, I will keep it from her with my life."

"Promise?"

"I promise, and I never go back on my promise." He turned and ran back. While he did, Shion had a vision of him being impaled on a spike. She crouched down and cried.

Naruto got there and found the temple already surrounded. He changed and drew his sword. _**"Even if you are just a sword, please help me save those that are precious to me."**_ He jumped into the air and brought his sword down on a soldier. It was crushed. Several stabbed him but like Zabuza on the bridge, he ignored them and kept running. He breached them and got to the temple steps to see Melfena standing at the temple door while a demon stepped forward. _**"Moryo! Moryo! Fight me!"**_

The demon looked at him and scoffed. _**"Leave, pup, and leave the adults to battle."**_

"Naruto, run away!"

"_**I would sooner die, if you can accomplish that." **_He was jerked backwards as something speared through his chest and heart. Melfena called out his name as he stood there. Moryo pulled his tentacle from Naruto and dropped him to the ground. He stopped breathing for a moment before getting back up. _**"I hate dying like that."**_ He shook his head and look at the shocked Moryo. **_"You aren't the only demon in this land."_** He ran forward and jumped up in the air. He came down, swinging Shuurai. _**"This sword is my fang, Moryo, and it will hold you down until I can kill you!"**_

"_**Why even fight at all,"**_ Moryo asked. **_"Help me and we will take this world as our own."_**

"_**Forgive me for not believing you but your reputation is less than impeccable."**_ Naruto cut off another of his limbs and ran for the main body. **_"To save the people I care about, I will give even my own life!"_** He stabbed Shuurai into him. Only to be knocked away.

"_**Do you think this is a game, pup!? I am a demon, you can't just stab me and expect to kill me!"**_

"Naruto, move," Melfena cried. Above them, the storm clouds were thundering.

"_**I wasn't trying to kill you with a stab,"**_ Naruto told him. He ran forward, pulling a chain from a seal. He threw an end, wrapping it around the handle of the Shuurai, and threw the other end into the air. The chain flew up until it touched the clouds. As it reached its peak, a spark touched it. Followed by the whole lightning bolt. Moryo roared in pain at it traveled through him into the ground before he felt to the ground. After a moment, Naruto picked up the sword again. **_"Guess I finally got you to roar, eh?" _**He was about to leave when he saw that the soldiers still stood. Moryo grabbed his leg and lifted him in the air.

"_**Next time you try to kill something, don't go near it until you are sure they are dead!" **_He threw Naruto into the air to try and eat him.

As Naruto was about to come back down, he heard a soft voice say, _'Use me, demon. I am now your's.'_ Not sure why now, he pointed Shuurai at Moryo. _**"Roar, Shuurai!"**_ Lightning gathered at the blade and shot at the demon. Every time it tried to escape, a bolt of lightning split off and destroyed it. The lightning fell for several seconds before stopping. Naruto dropped to the ground and look at the crater. It held a stain of darkness in the soil. Looking around, he saw the statues crumble and break. "Thank you, Shuurai," Naruto said after changing back. He looked around and grinned. He held the sword up in the air and shouted, "WHO'S YOUR DADDY AND WHAT DOES HE DO!?"

Melfena stopped gaping and laughed. "Can't stay serious for five minutes. Naruto, can you go get Shion? And tell the villagers that it is safe to return now."

"Will do, ma'am." He took off running. He found Shion still staring at the spot where the lightning struck Moryo. "Heya, ready to head back?"

"You're alive," she said, surprised.

"I can't die," he told her. He rubbed the broken part of his armor. "Have to get this fixed now..." Shion put a hand over his heart and he stopped.

"I saw you get impaled on a spike and you are still alive."

"I may die for the moment, Shion, but I won't leave you for good." He picked her up and ran to the shelters for the villagers. "The demon is dead," he told them. "It was killed by the Priestess and I."

"You did it," Shion asked him. "You called that lightning?"

"I did," Naruto said with a smile on his face. "...What are we still doing here!? Lets head back and get some sleep!"

—oo000oo—

Shion was tossing and turning in her sleep. She was having a nightmare. _Naruto caught a sword slash with Shuurai. As the bastard sword pushed the katana back, he started moving one hand and water from behind him came to life. It was shaped like a dragon and shot at him and his enemy. "Die, Sasuke!" Naruto fell back and jumped out of the way. Sasuke was caught in the jutsu and thrown back. The water hit the tub of molten metal as it was being poured, turning it into a spike. Sasuke stood up groggily and noticed his sword was missing._

"_I will kill you, demon," Sasuke growled. He saw the spike and broke the end off it. He turned to Naruto and threw it. Naruto rolled his eyes and stood there. The spike impaled him and Naruto looked shocked. He coughed up blood and looked down._

"_...Silver?" He looked back up and fell backwards._

"NARUTO!" Her demon friend burst into the room moments later, his hands claws to tear apart anyone that would hurt his friend. When he saw that wasn't anything there, he look at Shion and saw her shaking.

"A nightmare," he asked as he sat down next to her. He wrapped his tail around her and held her close. "It was just a nightmare."

"No, it wasn't," she cried. "I saw it again. You were impaled and died."

"I thought we covered this? I can't die."

"But you did. I saw you fighting a ninja named Sasuke." Naruto tensed at that. "You two were in a foundry and you used a water jutsu shaped like a dragon. It turned some molten metal into a spear and Sasuke stabbed you with it. When you looked down, I heard you say, 'Silver'."

Naruto was silent but then held her tighter. "I don't know the Suuryu no jutsu. That takes years to master."

Shion stopped crying. "It does?"

"It does," he told her. "Tell me, did I look different?"

"...Yeah, you did," she said, starting to get relieved. "Older...and cuter."

"Men get handsome, not cute," he complained.

"I'm sorry. But what about this Sasuke and silver?"

Naruto didn't answer for a long time. "Sasuke was my teammate. And if I am stabbed, it will heal, forcing it out. But if the metal is silver, I can't heal until it is removed. If it hits me somewhere important, it could kill me." Shion looked scared. "Hey, hey, don't cry. I just don't learn water jutsu. Then I can't turn it into a spear. And I won't fight in a foundry, I promise you I will always run away if I ever get caught in a place like that."

"Promise?"

"Sealed with a kiss if you would let me." Naruto blushed that he actually said that but held firm now that he actually said it.

"I really...shouldn't," Shion started to say before leaning forward.

"What is going on here," Melfena asked, making Naruto jumped back across the room. "...Naruto, is there a reason why my daughter's door is destroyed and you were close to her right now? In her nightgown, no less." Both Shion and Naruto blushed as they looked down. While it wasn't see through, Shion still grabbed her blanket to cover herself.

"She had a nightmare and screamed," Naruto stuttered, feeling the glare from Melfena. "I swear!"

"He is telling the truth mom," Shion told her in a shy voice. "I had a vision about Naruto and he was comforting me."

"...How?"

"By my brother," Naruto told her, "with a silver spear. But it is years away," Naruto told her. "I just won't do what I need to for it to happen."

"People say that all the time Naruto," Melfena told him. "It still happened."

"Well, I am Uzumaki Naruto, former ninja of the Leaf and a true Kitsunethrope and I say it won't. I will never fight in a foundry and I will never learn a water jutsu. Death will have to find another way to kill me."

"You died because you used a water jutsu," Melfena asked.

"Fighting a person I know. And even if some how I do learn the Suuryu no Jutsu, and is somehow forced to fight in a foundry, it will take years for me to be ready to do those."

Melfena breathed easier knowing that. "Then we will do everything in our power to make sure that you don't die like that. And thank you for comforting Shion. It seems this family is owing you more and more." She headed back to her room.

Naruto crouched down by her again. "Like I said before, I never go back on my promises. And I promised you I won't die."

"You better not," Shion told him. "You are my pet fox and I would be hurt if you died."

"As you wish, mistress," he said with a smile. He leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek but Shion stopped him. And kissed him on the lips.

—oo000oo—

Naruto stood on a branch, waiting for those Melfena asked him to meet. He caught their scent and began to analyze it. _'Two humans, women, one in early twenties, the other late forties. And a pig. The younger woman is having her period.'_ He opened his eyes again and looked in direction it came from. He jumped from tree to tree and landed in front of them. "Ladies, are you the Sannin Tsunade and her apprentice, Shizune?"

"Yes," the blond said. Naruto stared at her in surprise and she said, "You better not be looking at my chest, brat."

"No, no. Its just I have never been wrong before. I would have sworn you were a woman in her late forties but you look to be in your late twenties ma'am. Allow me to introduce myself. I am your escort in the Land of Demons, Naruto. I am also the reason you are here."

"But you are not sick," Shizune stated, a little agitated.

"Having her period, right on the money," Naruto stated. "No, I am not sick, far from it. My blood cured a lab rat of its diseases but is very dangerous in its own right. You see, I am a demon."

Shizune stepped back while Tsunade made a fist. "Why are you here?"

"I was running and this is where I collapsed. Been my home ever since. Shall I show you the way or would you prefer to stand around here and not see the cure for the plagues of our century?"

There was no sound for several minutes. So Naruto started to leave. "I will make this clear, demon, I don't trust you."

"If I wanted to kill you, you would already be dead, Tsunade."

"That a fact?"

Naruto changed into his demon form. _**"It is. This way, please."**_

—oo000oo—

"I apologize," Melfena said to Tsunade. "Naruto dislikes people calling him a demon like the one that attacked us not that long ago. He is usually much more pleasant."

"A demon attacked you and you let Naruto stay here," Tsunade asked, surprised.

"No, Naruto already lived here. And he was the one that killed the demon and saved my life. He left his home on a misunderstanding and is too afraid to go back."

"A misunderstanding," Shizune asked.

"Yes, Naruto used to be a ninja of the Leaf."

"WHAT," Tsunade shouted and looked at the blond fox. He was in the court yard doing slashes. Down, up, left, right, diagonal right, diagonal left, and repeat. On the far side, another Naruto was helping a man move things. And another was studying a scroll with Shion. "What in the bowls of hell do you mean that demon was a Leaf ninja!?"

"Exactly that. Naruto may have told you he is a demon but that isn't fully correct. Half his DNA is that of a fox. It is more accurate to say he has a Kekkei Genkai. Just one that if he bites a person while in his fox form, can transfer it to the other person."

"That doesn't sound so bad," Shizune said.

"It is young lady," the doctor said as he entered. "Hello, I am Dr. Yatou. And this," he motioned to the covered cage in his hand, "is our sample." He set the cage on the table and removed the blanket. There was a sleeping rat inside. "By accident, he was afflicted with Naruto's condition. We have found no cure for it."

Tsunade looked at the rat for a moment. "What were you studying with him?"

"Cancer. And the nodes are gone."

"Gone? Just like that?"

"Just like that. Ever since we discovered this, we have hit him with small pox, anthrax, AIDS, Ebola, syphilis, this rat takes it and comes back for more. Nothing kills it."

"Have you tried to draw a vaccine from it," Tsunade asked.

"There in lies the problem," Yatou told her. "Every attempt to duplicate this, we get two results. The sample is changed into a werefox or it dies."

"Again, that doesn't seem so bad. Naruto seems a nice boy..."

"It can be very bad," Melfena told her. "Naruto can't die. I saw him get stabbed through the heart and he got back up from it. Now, imagine this in the hands of a whole village."

"War, an unstoppable one," Tsunade stated.

"Correct," Yatou told her. "But only after a generation. Something is missing that this rat doesn't have that Naruto does. It is afflicted with being a werefox, not born with it."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning right now, I can kill this rat as easily as any other. Except during the full moon."

"What happens then?"

"I will answer that," Naruto told them as he walked over with a tray and some tea for Melfena. "Imagine something that no matter how hard you hit it, it gets back up unless you totally destroy it. And even then, you pray the pieces don't pull themselves back together. It is big, it is strong, it is fast, it is a monster that wants nothing but to rend all life around it except those like it. During the full moon, this harmless rat will change into a monster and try to break out of its cage." He set it down next to Melfena. "Green tea, with mint and milk."

"You didn't have to, Naruto," Melfena said, before tasting it. "Perfect, thank you."

"Glad to. Anyway, a true Kitsunethrope will be born able to change and to keep his mind." He looked at them. "Even if they just have it so that only the males are cursed, imagine the numbers. How many people would die because they were not prepared for the change? Worst, how many would survive the encounter and be cursed as well? Battle where they change and bite. The world would be flooded with them. Because people only see an advantage in battle. And if it doesn't go wrong? You have someone with an army of Kitsunethrope, true Kitsunethrope, that can't die. It is better that we are mostly extinct. That we kill more often than maim. When I first changed, I killed six teams of genin in the Forest of Death. I didn't have control, I couldn't be stopped. If I bit a one of them and they survived, they would have gone home to change on the first full moon and slaughter their team, family, or village."

"Do you know a way to cure it," Tsunade asked.

"Yeah, easy. Eat the heart of the one that afflicted you. Obviously that only works for one person and if they were bit. And I prefer where my heart is."

Yatou looked at Naruto, shocked. "Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"I didn't know you were looking for a way to cure it. Plus...it is kind of bad for my health."

"Naruto, would could have just used rats, wait for them to be cured, and then feed them the heart. We never had to tell them all this and the world would never have known."

Naruto was silent before looking at the two. Shizune felt very uneasy under his gaze. "Guess there is three options then," he stated.

"They are," Tsunade asked.

"Trust you and hope you never tell anyone this is the first and the one I would like to use. Two, don't completely trust you and keep you here for the rest of your lives. Or three, and the one I don't want, kill you." Shizune gulped while Tsunade got ready to fight. "Yatou, please make sure there is a way to kill the rats at a moments notice. If they tell anyone, I will just leave. If that isn't good enough, I will find a way to kill myself."

"You are letting us go," Tsunade asked. "I could tell Leaf that you are here."

"And if you do, before I off myself, I will kill you. I realized while I was here that this power is probably to dangerous for anyone to possess."

"While that is commendable, I doubt that you could do it."

"Punch me," Naruto told her. She did and a moment later, both groaned in pain. Naruto put his jaw back in place. "I'm a Kage Bunshin. My healing keeps me from being dispelled from hits. And I can make over a hundred clones. How long would you last against those numbers?"

"If what you tell me is true, I'd be pushing it at an hour."

"Without getting bitten? Because once you are, it is over. You will have no choice but find the real me to take my heart or possible one day killing your apprentice."

Tsunade was quiet for the longest time. "We will keep it a secret. And since we are here, we might as well try to make a harmless injection out of this. Because eating the heart of a rat sounds disgusting."

"It does," Melfena agreed. "...Why doesn't it have fox ears, Naruto?"

"...Its complicated."

"Not willing to tell us," Tsunade asked.

Naruto leveled his gaze on her. "You already know more than I am comfortable with and you want to know more?"

"Please," Melfena asked.

"...The day I was born, another fox demon attacked Konoha. The nine tailed Bijuu, Kyuubi no Yoko. The Yondiame sealed him inside me."

"Impossible," Tsunade stated.

"Excuse me," Naruto asked. "I was hated my whole life before I became this and you are calling me a liar?"

"Thats right. Minato sealed the Kyuubi inside his son. You are a demon, so you can't be him."

Naruto dropped his jaw in shock. "My...my father?"

"You are a demon, Minato was human, thus you couldn't be his son."

Naruto fell to the floor. "My father...did this to me?"

"Aren't you listening to me!? He isn't your..."

"_**Actually, he isn't listening to you," **_Naruto said. **_"The kit couldn't take it and passed out."_** A cloak of red chakra with nine tails covered Naruto. He looked at Tsunade as blood mixed with the chakra, turning him blood red. _**"Yes, I remember you. You were the one that gave the kit to his father before he summoned that toad."**_

"Kami, the Kyuubi," Tsunade muttered, very afraid right then.

"_**The one and only, Senju."**_ He knelt down and looked her in the face. **_"Care to call us a liar again?"_** Tsunade shook her head no. Kyuubi straightened and took a deep breath. _**"Ah, the kit may hate the taste and smell. But I love blood in the morning. Too bad I can't get some."**_

"You aren't going to kill everyone here," Shizune asked.

"_**Are you joking? Priestesses live to seal and kill demons! Even had the kit not interfered, she would have won! And my power is not what it should be because I am locked away inside the kit!"**_

"Then I couldn't say anything anyway," Tsunade told him. "To take Naruto away from here is to release you back on the world."

"_**Yeah, I though you would realize that." **_He sighed. **_"So good to be out and about again, too bad it doesn't last long." _**He glanced at Melfena and saw she had a sutra charm ready. _**"I get it, I get it, I'm going!"**_ The clone released itself and Naruto, still doing his exercises, fell over while the other clones were dispelled. Naruto got back up and shook his head. When he took a moment to realize what he learned, he passed out again.

—oo000oo—

Twitch. Twitch. Twitch. "Mom, he's waking up," Shion called to her mom down the hall. "Naruto, how do you feel?"

"Like I was hit by a boulder," he muttered. "I had the strangest dream. I was a dozen places at once, nothing new about that. Anyway, you were there, I was helping you study. And Melfena-san was there. And she was talking to this mean bat of a woman. And Dr. Yatou with the rat. And..."

"What do you mean, 'mean bat of a woman'," Tsunade demanded.

Naruto groaned at it not being a dream. But ever one to bounce back, jumped to his feet. "Exactly what I said, bat! My nose is never wrong, so you must be lying!"

Tsunade growled at him. "I don't care if you are Minato's son, I will beat you to a pulp!"

"Ha, you could blow me up and the pieces will just keep fighting!" He growled at her in return.

Shion looked at them and said it. "You two are like an old married couple."

Naruto turned green at that thought. "Gross! I can just imagine that! 'How long you been married?' 'Forty six years.' When was the happiest moment of your life?' 'Forty seven years ago'." Naruto got an uppercut the knocked him on his ass.

"An old married couple," Shion said again.

"Never," Naruto told her. "Not my type, she's old, mean, old, pushy, old, obviously all the matter that was supposed to be her brain went to her chest, did I happen to mention old?" While he talked and looked at Shion, he ducked the punches Tsunade threw to beat him senseless.

"Stop moving already so I can hurt you!"

"Isn't that why I shouldn't stop moving," Naruto asked. "Anyway, you are more my type, Shion-chan." He ducked too slow and received a hay maker to the head. He flew into the wall and didn't move.

"NARUTO!"

"I killed him," Tsunade said, shocked.

Naruto groaned and sat back up. "What happened to this Naruto," he asked, rubbing his head.

"Tsunade clocked you upside the head," Shion told him, helping him stand. "Are you okay?"

"This Naruto thinks he is fine..."

Shion blinked a few time. "What?"

"This Naruto thinks he is fine," he said again.

Shion turned on Tsunade. "You knocked him into speaking in third person!"

"She did," Naruto asked. "But this Naruto is feeling fine." He stood up and had perfect balance in his main body. "See." His tail was moving back and forth just about everywhere to keep it.

"Naruto, stop moving you tail," Shion told him. He forced his tail to stop...and he fell face first into the floorboard. "This is your fault, Tsunade-sama."

"...He shouldn't have called me old." She knelt down and started using a healing jutsu on his head. "Feeling better?"

"This Naruto is better now," Naruto told her. He stood up and walked away.

"Its permanent now," Shion shouted. Naruto smirked, now he had a new prank to play.

—oo000oo—

"Let me get this right," Jiriaya said. "You lied to me, say Naruto died. He suffered here, alone. Turned into a werefox. Suddenly viewed valuable by the council, but had the choice to leave. The council didn't like that he might and suggested imprisoning him if he did. At which point, you lost him?"

Outside the office, Sasuke had been about to walk in to demand to know about Naruto and what became of him.

"I know I handled Naruto badly."

"No, you handled him piss poor, sensei," Jiriaya corrected. "Can you at least tell me what became of the werefox?"

"Naruto killed it."

"Well at least that is taken care of. Still leaves the others."

"Others? How many more is there?"

"Hundreds throughout the world. They are very rare now but didn't use to be. Hell, there is a wereraven in the middle of the forest outside of Konoha."

Sasuke's eyes lit up at that. Naruto had gotten his power and that ability from one of these 'werefox'. Though he killed it, a wereraven was in the forest outside of Konoha. He wouldn't need any other power if he would just heal after each wound! He turned and ran, no longer caring about the dobe. Hell, with an ability like that, he wouldn't even need the strength given to him by the seal on his neck. He ran long into the forest and night. He never found a sigh of this creature though. Around eleven, he came across a cabin. A man with leather like skin was there, sitting in front of a fire. His hair was pitch black and silky. His eyes were brown. Though he was young, his eyes shined with wisdom only age could bring. Sasuke stood across from him. "I'm looking for a giant raven."

The man stopped his carving the piece of wood in his hand and looked at him. "You are looking for the Spirit Raven? Tell me why, boy, and I might tell you where you can find him."

"What does it matter to you?"

"The spirit of the Raven is the guide to the souls of my people to the Happy Hunting Grounds, our heaven. And it is he that choses if you go now or later."

"I doubt that is what it is."

"Tell me why boy, or you can continue your hunt away from here."

Sasuke growled. "I am an Uchiha of Konoha, I always get what I want."

"I am Wind in his Hair of the Black Foot tribe, I couldn't care less. Leave." He started to head inside.

"My brother killed my family," Sasuke told him. "He tortured me. I can't sleep at night, hearing their screams and mine. I am looking for the power get kill him and bring peace to them and me."

"The path of vengeance leads to the path of peace," Wind in his hair asked. Sasuke didn't back down. "...Spirits and the souls of the dead also have a large part of my religion. What will you ask him when I show him to you?"

"If he is what I think, to give me the same power that the fox gave my teammate."

Wind in his Hair looked him for a long time. Then he began to grow taller. His shirt tore in half and his mouth changed into a beak. His arms grew feathers and became wings. The skin of his legs hardened and his knees bent backwards. In moments, a humanoid raven stood where the hunter was. _**"I am here, Uchiha Sasuke. You do not realize what you are asking."**_

"Naruto could handle it..."

"_**I am not a werefox. Each of the were-animals changes differently. The canines become rabid. The cats animalistic. The bears as well, but with the desire to attack any werewolf they come across. The fox is the spirit of tricks and mischief. And that reflects to the werefox as well. They tend to play with things they come across before killing them."**_

"And you?"

"_**The wereraven keeps some of their mind when they change. We are not hunters, we do not go out of our way to hunt and kill."**_

"Easily better than the others."

"_**You don't understand. I am the last, true or otherwise. I could bite you and create another. For what? You don't know anything, nor do I feel inclined to tell you."**_

"You know why I need the strength. Naruto was stabbed a hundred times at once, in the heart as well, and he lived. My brother is the strongest Uchiha ever. I will need every advantage I can get to fight him."

"_**...You will learn boy, this isn't an advantage, it is a curse. The same as the seal on your neck. These two were never meant to mix, I cannot say what will happen to you once bitten. But you will no longer be my concern."**_ Before Sasuke could react, Wind in his Hair flew at him and grabbed him. His razor sharp beak shone in the moonlight before coming down on Sasuke's shoulder. As Sasuke started to blackout, Wind in his Hair flapped his wings, throwing Sasuke back the way he came.

—oo000oo—

"How can this Naruto help you, Melfena-san," Naruto asked Melfena several days later.

"Naruto, Tsunade told me about that comment you made about Shion being you type." He gulped. "You know she is in line to become the next priestess, correct?"

"...This Naruto is aware of that."

"And yet, you say this. Why?"

"This Naruto cares for Shion-chan, more than he lets on. More than even he knows. She was there for him when he woke up and never left his side or hurt him. This Naruto cannot help but care for her."

"Even though she will be a priestess? Even though she will never be allowed to marry you? Or that her main duty will be to seal and kill demons?"

"...This Naruto has no control over his heart, Melfena-san. If he is at least close to Shion-chan, he will be happy if she is happy."

"Hmm." Melfena thought about it for a while as Naruto just stood there, his only movements being his tail shifting around and his ears twitching and turning at sounds being made around him. "This could destroy our prestige. If it was needed, would you leave?" Naruto didn't answer. He wanted to tell her yes he would. But he knew, in his heart, that he would never do it. And it showed on his face. "So you would put love in front of our honorable standing?"

"If a person see this Naruto as honorable or not matters not," Naruto told her. "He knows how he will act. If a person sees Shion as honorable or not matters not as well. He knows who she is. In the end, we will still do what is needed to be done and they will see that, when we could have left them without repercussions, we didn't."

"You speak as if you expect another demon."

"This Naruto will until they are all dead. Which will never happen."

Melfena "Hmm," again. "...Alright," she said after a bit."

Naruto lost his balance. "Alright? As in..."

"As in it is alright for you and Shion to be together if you and her wish it." Naruto smiled, happy about this. "Naruto, know this. I am her mother, and I want nothing but the best for my child. Following?" He nodded. "You ever start to act like a demon that we fight against, I will kill you."

Naruto realized something. "This Naruto doesn't know what to think. Despite him saving your life, despite him being your friend and the friend of your daughter, you would probably portray him as the monster in a story. You don't trust him fully."

Melfena tried to say something, anything, to keep his feeling from getting hurt. Naruto continued. "There is hope for you, Melfena-san. He ask of you the same as he asked his former leader. If ever he loses himself to his monster side, kill him before he kills someone we all care for." Naruto smiled at her, showing he was not mad. The plain and simple truth was he was a demon now. It was better to be cautious. "But...um... What if Shion-chan and this Naruto...wants to get married?"

"Naruto, I plan on being Head Priestess for a long time. Shion doesn't need to replace me now. Or if she has a daughter soon enough, at all." He grew very excited at that. As long as nothing bad happened to Melfena, Shion could be herself. "And, again, Naruto, anything to hurt her and I will seal you in a tree, burn it to ash, and scatter it to the winds."

"Hai, Melfena-san," Naruto said with a grin. "This Naruto will never do anything on purpose to hurt Shion-chan."

"That is all I ask," Melfena told him. "Now you have to work to get her to like you."

"This Naruto has always been willing to work for something important to him."

—oo000oo—

"It's been so long," Hinata sang, her head on her hands while her CD player played the song she wished would happen to her. "...That I haven't seen you face. I'm trying to be strong but the strength I have is washing away. It won't be long, before I fix you by my side. And just hold you, tease you, squeeze you, tell you whats been on my mind. I wanna make up right now na na. I wanna make up right now na na. Wish we never broke up right now na na. We need to link up right now na na. I wanna make up right now na na. I wanna make up right now na na. Wish we never broke up right now na na. We need to link up right now na na.

"Girl, I know, mistakes were made between us two. And we show our ass that night, even said some things weren't true. Watch you go and haven't seen my girl since then. Why can't it be the way it was? Cause you were my homie, lover, and friend. I wanna make up right now na na. I wanna make up right now na na. Wish we never broke up right now na na. We need to link up right now na na. I wanna make up right now na na. I wanna make up right now na na. Wish we never broke up right now na na. We need to link up right now na na.

"I can't lie, I miss you much. Watching everyday that goes by, I miss you much. Till you get back I'm gonna try, yes I miss you much. You are the apple of my eye, girl I miss you much. I miss you much. I can't lie, I miss you much. Watching everyday that goes by, I miss you much. Till you get back I'm gonna try, yes I miss you much. You are the apple of my eye, girl I miss you much. I miss you much. I wanna make up right now na na. I wanna make up right now na na. Wish we never broke up right now na na. We need to link up right now na na. I wanna make up right now na na. I wanna make up right now na na. Wish we never broke up right now na na. We need to link up right now na na.

"I want you to fly with me, want you to fly. I miss how you lie with me, miss how you lie. Just wish you could dine with me, wish you could dine with me. One that would grind with me, one that would grind with me. I want you to fly with me, want you to fly. I miss how you lie with me, miss how you lie. Just wish you could dine with me, wish you could dine with me. One that would grind with me, one that would grind with me. I miss you much. I wanna make up right now na na. I wanna make up right now na na. Wish we never broke up right now na na. We need to link up right now na na. I wanna make up right now na na. I wanna make up right now na na. Wish we never broke up right now na na. We need to link up right now na na." The song finished and started to play again. Hinata just laid on her paid, face still on her hands. If you were able to see her eyes, you would know she had been crying.

"Hinata," came the voice of her father outside the door. He tried to open it and found it locked. "Open the door, Hinata," he said sternly. Right then, she knew he was using the Byakugan to spy on her. She shifted to hold a fox plushy closer to her. "I gave you an order." Hinata moved a hand to her CD player and paused it. Then she spoke to him.

"I don't care anymore," she told him. "It is your fault, you and the council. Everyone knows it, inside and outside the village. The one person I ever wanted to be with more than being alive, more than being a Hyuuga, and you drove him away."

"I am still you father and you will speak to me with respect."

"Or what," she asked tiredly. It wasn't that she was confident now that she could say it, it was that she no longer cared about anything except being as much of a non Hyuuga as possible. She trained with her team, no longer showed interest with the workings of her clan, she no longer trained at home where he could observe her, instead she spent her time learn taijutsu from Lee and his sensei, Maito Gai, the fore most expert of hand to hand in the village. She was now using a style made by combining the free flowing and ease of movement of Drunken Boxing with what little her father taught her of Juuken. She didn't have the strength to break bones but she didn't need it. She easily had the agility and flexibility for it. And could knock people off balance even as they stood on firm standing. "What else could you possibly take from me? You have my happiness, my future, all that is left is my life."

"...Do you think I wanted to force him away?"

"You tried hard enough before he was valuable and then when he was you did."

"What are you talking about!?"

"I heard you! You said I was weaker than Hanabi, that you wish I had been born of the Branch House! I was so sad, I wanted to kill myself! I left the estate and went walking. And I saw Naruto. And I thought, 'There is someone hated even more than me. By being around him, I know that I will feel better'. It was cruel and heartless, exactly like a Hyuuga should be. I followed him and saw how bad he was treated...but I didn't feel better, I felt worst. There he was, being openly insulted for something he didn't know why, he even had things thrown at him a few times, and all he did was smile up at the Hokage Statues, and kept walking, never giving up. You know who threw those things, said the most insults? Uchiha and Hyuuga. The two most 'honorable' clans in Konoha tortured a boy that did nothing wrong aside be born with whiskers."

"I had nothing to do with the way he was treated."

"Then you had no control of the clan. Which is it? Did were you spiteful or incompetent?"

A fist hit her door. "That is it, you will fight Hanabi, right now, for your title as heir."

"I don't want it," Hinata told him. "This clan can burn for all I care."

"I will mark you with the Caged Bird seal myself."

"And no doubt be the first to use it... Fine. We will fight." She walked over to the door and opened it. And was slapped by her father. She turned her head back forward, not shedding a tear, and asked, "Feel better? Feel like you are above me again?" She walked to the dojo, still holding her fox. Hiashi was shocked by the look on his daughter. No emotion, eyes half lidded, she showed him total indifference. She no longer cared, no matter what.

Hinata stood there, holding her fox close to her, while Hanabi stood across from her, waiting for the go. "I will win," Hanabi told her.

"Just like the others... Just like Neji-niisan, so sure of victory for who you are..."

"I am sure of it because you are not nor will ever be strong."

"Then I deserve the position as much as I want it," Hinata told her, looking at her sister the same way as she did her family. The only ones she showed any emotion to at all was the Branch. "Come and end it already, I wish to go back to my room and listen to some music, the obviously more important thing." Hanabi about snarled and charged Hinata. She went for a two palm strike...to find Hinata was not there. What she felt then was the most painful thing she had ever felt in her life. The back of her was cut open and her back itself was cut, like it had been hit with a whip. Hinata placed her foot back on the ground before twisting and turning. Hanabi tried to predict her movements but couldn't. She received a kick to the face, getting chakra burns there as well. Hinata couldn't be pinpoint accurate with her feet but this was to show worth to them. To her, it was to insult them. She gave up the Juuken and now used Drunken Palms. She was doing this to hurt them now. And Hanabi just happened to be the one unlucky enough to be the person to get it. Cruel, she knew, just as a Hyuuga would be.

Hanabi stumbled back, not understanding how her weaker sister was hurting her. She activate her Byakugan and saw Hinata still look at her with her eyes half closed, her Byakugan not activated. Hanabi went on the attack again. She went for a low sweep, hoping to paralyze her legs. Hinata jumped _forward_ and flipped. Her right hand left her fox, touched the ground, and pushed again. She went right over Hanabi, bringing her feet down again on her. First the right on her nose, the left on top, and right again on the back of her head. Hinata flipped a total of twice before her feet hit the floor again. She twisted around again, seeming to stumble, and looked at her sister. She was on the floor, clutching her head. The chakra sent into her had overloaded her Byakugan, causing her great pain while it was activate, while also causing blood to escape from her nose, ears, and her eyes were going to be next. A Hyuuga would let her die as she was surely going to. Hinata walked over, dropping a hand. Hiashi thought she was going to kill her and went to stop her. But Hinata only knelt by her sister and sent chakra into her tenketsu that fed chakra to her eyes, deactivating them. She then pulled her sister into a hug and cradled her. "Your fine now," she whispered. "It won't hurt long now, you'll see." Hanabi grabbed her and began to cry.

"It hurts...sister, it hurts so much."

"It will go away and you'll be fine. You'll see." Hinata took a bottle of water and a napkin from her pouch. Using only her free hand, she soaked the cloth and used it to wipe the blood away and sooth her wounds. "You'll see. I won't let you hurt more than needed like they would."

The elders, who had been ready to assign Hinata to the Branch house, were shocked and angry. She had perverted the Juuken style. She had also won with it. And openly insulted them. Hiashi knew she was also telling the truth, the clan was set up to hurt the weaker about.

"She can have it," Hinata told them. "Give me the seal and kick me out of the Hyuuga clan for all I care anymore." She stood, picking up her little sister as she did. "None of it matters. We aren't even a family anymore, why should I try to save it? Why should I, when everyone that can change it are so set in driving the wedge even deeper. In driving people that can change things for the better from their own home." She hugged her sister to her chest over her fox and walked out. "I'm sorry, Hanabi. I'm sorry for hurting you. Be a good heir, okay? One better than the whole Main family put together. Kind and determined, getting back up no matter how many times or how hard you are knocked down."

The oldest member of the Branch family smiled at Hinata and bowed to her as she passed. "Well done, Hinata-sama."

"You don't have to call me that, Kuma-sama. I doubt I will be heir for another twenty minutes."

"And you knew this going in," the woman said. Hinata always thought she looked something like a panda, with her hair in buns as they were. She was almost a hundred years old, an accomplished ninja, and older than even the elders. But she still moved as spry as when she was forty. It was said she made a few passes on both the first _and_ second Hokage, just to tick the elders off. "Not many people have made them that mad before."

"They drove him away," Hinata explained. "He had something they wanted. Everything he ever had, they took away even if they didn't want it. Now, Naruto-kun is gone...and I can't find it to prove myself anymore. Let them see that even someone like me can beat a Hyuuga. That we aren't all powerful because of our eyes."

Kuma smiled at her. Hinata was right, she knew, she would not only not be heir for another twenty minutes, she would not even be a Hyuuga by tomorrow. And she had accepted this as her fate. "It would have been an honor to serve under you, Akatsuki Hinata. May this new dawn on your life shine light on a better future." She bowed again. Hinata was looking around, surprised to see each and every member of the Hyuuga Branch family in sight were also bowing. "Why so surprised? You gave up everything to prove that they are wrong. That things should be different. Not a person here will ever forget that. Hopefully, your sister will not forget it either." They all looked at Hanabi to see her shivering but no longer in pain. "Those old fools, so certain that the Byakugan will win for them. But they forget that too much chakra in them can likely kill the person..." She snapped her fingers and several Hyuuga walked up. "Go to Lady Hinata's room and begin sealing her possessions in scrolls. Once you are done, take them to my room until she can collect them. Also, have a new coat crafted for her. One with the sun coming up over the horizon instead of the Hyuuga symbol. One of you, take Hanabi back to her room and watch over her. If she begins to turn to the worst, come get me right away."

"It will be done," they said to her. Neji took Hanabi from Hinata and gave her his apologies for his actions.

Kuma looked back at Hinata. "I have a gift for you, Hinata. But we must hurry before they can put your sealing into action. Come with me and you will get it. Just know this, it will scare you, and it will hurt a little."

Hinata squeezed her fox again. "I'm ready. I was ready the moment I let my words free. I know pain will become very familiar with me soon."

"You are much stronger than even you give yourself credit, child. Come with me."

—oo000oo—

Hinata stood there, baring the pain going through her head and the burning in her eyes. She had them closed to help concentrate. She would not give them the satisfaction in screaming. "The ultimate betrayal," the head elder said for all those gathered to hear. "The Hyuuga have existed for centuries, as we are. To pervert the Juuken, to try to change our way of life, our only way of surviving, there can be only one punishment. No longer are you a Hyuuga, no longer do you deserve the pride that comes with the name..."

"What...pride," Hinata asked through gritted teeth. The pain increased sharply.

"Your crimes are high enough, betrayer," the elder using the seal told her. "Keep quiet and we might let you live after tonight." Hinata fought to keep her head high and forced her eyes open to look him in the eyes. She could tell he was not the only one using the seal in the room. The whole of the Hyuuga clan was gathered to watch as was tradition. And the Branch clan nearly revolted when it was announced that she would be banished from the clan. Only her insistence did they not attack the main outright, now the seals being used to keep the more rowdy in line.

The head elder continued. "There is only one punishment that can be given for crimes such as these. Never again will you as you once did. Never again will you know all around you. For betraying the Hyuuga clan, your Byakugan is now and forever sealed away. Not even your children will have it." The elder using the seal on her changed the handsign he was using and the burning in her eyes peaked. Her pale blue eyes began to bleed as slowly the color began to change. She made sure to watch him in the eyes, to burn the memory into his brain. Her once pretty, pupil-less eyes were now storm gray with a black center that was darker than all night. Slowly, the pain drifted away and the seal on her forehead turned into a scar. "Forever will you be marked. Everywhere you go, people will know that you aren't even fit to be a Branch member of the Hyuuga."

"I would have been honored...to be born in the branch," Hinata growled at him. "I am Akatsuki Hinata, and I cut my ties to the Hyuuga, not the other way around," she said, raising her voice to be heard by all those there. "Change, tolerance, improvement, these are the foundations of Konoha. Stagnant, intolerance, and wretched decline, these are the foundations of the Hyuuga Main family." She glared at all of the elders and finally her father, who couldn't even look her in the eyes. "You think this is a punishment? I will keep this scar and show it proudly. Every time a Hyuuga Branch member dies because the Main family is too cowardly to fight, I will be haunting nightmare, knowing I beat you. I am free of your cursed destiny." The elders turned around to not look at her. It was tradition that everyone did. But not a single Branch did. They bowed to her as she passed. And Hinata could swear, as she looked in their eyes with pride in hers, she could see plans forming to get kicked out as well. As she picked up the bag with her possessions and walked out of the Hyuuga estate a final time, she knew that soon, the world would know that Hyuuga Hinata died. And a new clan was born on the same day. One of the elders made the comment that the sun on the back of her coat was setting. No, she had corrected him, it was rising, and her life would only get better as it climbed higher.

She took a deep breath as she could already feel a change coming over her body. Curse seals really don't mix all too well with another curse, Kuma had told her earlier. And when they change something as deep as the Byakugan, it had a tendency to change something else as well. Much like a bear would, she grinned and walked away.

—oo000oo—

Sasuke woke up the next morning, sore all over his body. He stumbled back and was rushed to the hospital. They examined him for several hours and said he was fine enough to leave. That night, while getting ready for bed, his hand suddenly started twitching. He felt the skin on his arms itch as something grew from them. His bones ached and he wanted nothing more to end it all to end the pain. Something tore his night shoes apart and his knees felt indescribable pain. He made his way to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. Feathers were growing from his face and a beak from his mouth. He could see the reflection of the full moon through the mirror and window. The pain became too much and he began to scream. Before the end, if became that of a bird shrieking. A giant raven destroyed the wall and let out another wild shriek before taking off into the night sky.

Not far away, a young woman was thrashing around, punching things and destroying them. Her coat and clothing carefully stored away until she recovered herself, Hinata fought through the pain, slamming her fist into a wall. There was powerful crack as the bricks turned to dust. She hit again, her fist climbing higher now. Her arms thicker. Her nails turning to talons. Before long, a bear with almost black fur stood in the alley. She turned her nose to the air and took a deep breath. She smelled the scent of a predator nearby. One that hurt her. Shaking her bulky body and the bag somehow still attached to her, she went in search of it. This was her territory, her home now. She would not be pushed back.

—oo000oo—

Hyuuga Kokuzoku could not get her eyes out of his mind, her words out of his head. He knew that something was not down very soon, the whole of the Branch family would try to follow Hinata. She had to be killed. The elders had decided that, as he was the one that sealed her Byakugan away, he would also be the one to seal her life. He had lost her around here in the less populated part of Konoha. Naruto lived near here so he didn't doubt she was still close by.

He spun when he heard a groan. Something big was somewhere out here. He activated his Byakugan and nearly cried out. A bear was so close that in ten second, it would be on top of him. He slowly turned to it and swallowed. It was just staring at him...with storm gray eyes and discolored fur on its forehead. It was snarling at him. "N-nice b-bear..." It roared, throwing its voice all over Konoha and stood on two legs, now over ten feet tall. It raised a paw and brought it down on the arm he raise to block it. Most of it fell to the ground while blood shot from the stump. Kokuzoku knew that bears would rather leave you alone as long as you left it alone. So, in some far corner of his mind not numbed by pain, he wondered what he did to anger it. The bear raised a foot and kicked him, throwing him into a dumpster there in the alley. Its claws had torn off another limb, his left leg. It got down on all fours and ran over to him. He tried vainly to kick it in the head and the bear bit that leg and destroyed it. It moved close to him, its lips pulled back in a snarl only inches from his face. He only had one chance to live. His Byakugan still activate, he went to shove chakra into its head to kill it. But he forgot two things. Bears have a very thick coat of fur all over their body. And their skulls were over an inch thick as well. What he didn't know was that this bear would survive it anyway.

He hit it dead on and the bear stumbled to the right a step. But it didn't fall. It glared at him and roared in his face before tearing off his remaining arm. He sat there, bleeding to death, staring it in the eyes, waiting for it to finish him off. And the bear was about to take his head off with one final strike from its huge paw. But it heard something and turned its head to the alley entrance. It then turned to leave. As it did, Kokuzoku saw it had the same bag Hinata walked away with on its back. And the dots began to connect. That bear was Hinata! She had changed into a monster!

—oo000oo—

"Reports have come in about several animal related disturbances," Sarutobi's assistant told him the next morning. "A bear was spotted and heard in the middle district. Hyuuga Kokuzoku was attacked by it, as it seems." Sarutobi sighed as she continued. "He appears to have suffered a nervous breakdown from loosing his limbs as he keeps claiming that the bear was Hyuuga...Akatsuki Hinata."

"Has he stopped at all," Sarutobi asked.

"No, he kept it up right until the medics drugged him and started again when he woke."

Another sigh. "Please tell me that is all of it."

"It isn't, sir. While we have found signs of the bear, we cannot find it. Nor how it got in and out of the village. And there are the usual reports of some giant creature flying around." Now this Sarutobi was familiar with. For as long as there had been a Konoha, there was stories that, on the darkest of nights, a giant raven flew the skies. He now knew it was true, with the wereraven somewhere out there.

"Was there any other injuries?"

"No, sir."

"Thank Kami..." The door was thrown open by a messenger. "Spoke to soon."

"Hyuuga Kokuzoku has died of his wounds," the messenger told them. "The doctors couldn't stop the hemorrhaging. And it is being recommended that his body be burned to prevent the spread of disease."

Sarutobi was ready to drop his head against his desk. "Inform the Hyuuga of this and tell them that they can collect the ashes at a later date."

"SIR," an ANBU shouted as he entered. "I was making my rounds when I noticed the Uchiha grounds in some damage. The house Sasuke stays at has a wall broken out and signs of a struggle on the inside."

"Send a tracker team there, I want him found!" He leaned back in his chair and thought of that bottle of saki he kept for just such an emergency.

"Won't be needed," Kakashi said as he walked in. "I found him outside the city, his clothes shredded but fine." Sasuke at his side looked like he hadn't gotten any sleep. "There had obviously been a struggle but who ever it was decided he wasn't worth it."

"Who did it Sasuke," the Hokage asked.

"...Uh...don't...remember."

"Take him somewhere to rest," the Hokage ordered Kakashi. "Try to find some clues as to what happened..." The sound of something collapsing was heard from outside. Looking out the windows, you could barely see the house Sasuke stayed in was now nothing but rubble. "..."

"Looks like the main support was broken," Kakashi stated ruefully. "So much for evidence. Hope no one was hurt."

The assistant sighed as well as Sarutobi. "Not to add more to your plate but Akatsuki Hinata has asked for help in finding a new home."

Sarutobi thought about it for a while. "Have her come to me in about a half hour, I will have one ready by then." He reached into a drawer he had ready for Naruto. He knew the blond would likely not come back for it so instead of it remain empty, some one that looked up to Naruto should have it. "By the way, have any signs of Naruto been found," he asked when Kakashi and the others left.

"No, sir. And no word of him in Wave either."

"I thought for sure that he would have contacted Tazuna and his family from what the mission report said."

—oo000oo—

Tazuna grabbed the mail and went back inside his home. He went through them, throwing the bills on the table and important news he kept. "Huh?" He just came across a letter from the Head Priestess of Demon country. He sat down, opened it, and pulled it out. "Hey, super drunk bridge builder, how you doing? Its your favorite ninja, Naruto..." He smiled and shouted. "Inari, Tsunami, big news!" They all came over and read it.

"_First off, this Naruto is fine. A real hard hit to the head but otherwise he is fine. This Naruto and Konoha had a falling out of sorts. He got scared and ran away because he might have been imprisoned. You see, he has an ability that makes him very valuable to everyone now. And he didn't have to stay in Konoha. But the council didn't like that he could leave so he could give his ability to another village. They were talking about throwing this Naruto in jail to keep it out of other hands. The Old Man said something and he got scared and ran. He is also too scared to go back and find out what all was said. So no telling you heard from him._

"_But this Naruto is not sad. He is very happy here. In fact, had he known that places like this existed, he would have come here a long time ago. Check out his new family."_ A picture was taped with Naruto standing there in armor, fox ears and tail proudly showing, and his hand in a peace sign. With him were two women with bright blue pupil-less eyes. One was older and wearing the robes of priesthood. The other was obviously her daughter. All three had huge smiles. _"The Priestess is Melfena-sama. She is part of a long line of priestesses with a Kekkei Genkai that grants them great power in the presence of a demon. Totally useless for war thankfully. This Naruto could never let Shion-chan go to war. He now knows who his parents are, which makes him both happy and sad. His father was a great person, but died for being great. This Naruto sometimes wonders if that is the fate of all that are great._

"_AAGH! This Naruto is tired of being serious! He is working on prank even now. Don't tell anyone but he was hit in the head and started speaking like his favorite anime character. When he had healed, he kept it up. It is so funny seeing people get exasperated because he speaks in third person! But Shion-chan like it so even if it wasn't funny, he would keep it up. Again, shh! That's a secret, hehe. Please don't hate this Naruto for leaving his village, that would break his heart. Or that he doesn't go back to find out what was really said. He is happy here..._

"_How is everyone? Good, this Naruto hopes. Have you been laying flowers at Haku's and Zabuza's graves? He would understand if you didn't but he hopes you do. Haku was so much like this Naruto that it hurts. Alone. He didn't deserve what he got. He can't stand the thought that he was forgotten. Can you do this Naruto a big, BIG, favor? Name your bridge the Great Haku Bridge if you haven't named it yet. He only fought for what he believed in and gave his life for it. In the short time this Naruto knew him, he considered him a brother... This Naruto misses him greatly._

"_Has Wave recovered? He hopes so. A lot of hopes, no? He has learned here that life is full of them. While it maybe better not to depend on them, you have to have them to get through. That is why you came to Konoha, isn't it? Hope._

"_HAHA! He is getting serious again! Okay, clear sign to end this. Take care and send replies to this Naruto through the Head Priestess of the Land of Demons. Inari, remember that crying when you are happy is okay. Don't forget that the Hero always waits for the last minute! Well, maybe a minute or two before hand. Tsunami-san, this Naruto misses your cooking! For something so simple, it always tasted great! He wonders what you could do with Ramen. Tazuna... Well, don't drink yourself into an early grave._

"_Sincerely, formerly Konoha's most unpredictable, surprising ninja, Uzumaki Naruto."_

After a moment, Tazuna folded it up and hid it. After writing down the address, he burned the envelope. "Not a word," he told his family. "I am sorry that we can't name it that though. Maybe we can do something for Haku though. But the least we can do is find out for Naruto what happened."

—oo000oo—

_Two months later_

—oo000oo—

"Kurenai, you and your team is to got to the Land of Demons," Sarutobi told her.

"Hai, Hokage-sama. What is the mission?"

"The village is setting up a celebration for the Head Priestess and her head bodyguard...a demon. This can't be right." He looked at the original request. "Wow, it is. The Priestess has a demon as her bodyguard and friend. While the celebration is going on, you and your team is to make sure that no poisons and such get in."

Akatsuki Hinata held up her hand. "Hokage-sama, who will run my clan in my absence? This will not take a few days."

"You are correct. Isn't Kuma part of the Akatsuki?"

"...Why didn't I think of her? Thank you," Hinata said, sticking her tongue out a little. She still couldn't believe at times that so many left the Hyuuga to join the Akatsuki. Even Neji was there. True, they lost the Byakugan, but they were each learning to compensate with the Drunken Palms style. The odd thing about Kuma was that her Byakugan didn't stay sealed. If only she had some children, that trait might have been passed along. And it still surprised her that half the Branch family was there now. Yes, her home was big enough to house them but life was certainly easier as a Hyuuga. They had to claw for everything at times. They had so much to prove to get out of the Hyuuga shadow. Although, no one, and she did mean no one, associated the scars on their foreheads as a sign of not being good enough anymore.

"Who is the contact?"

"Hmm. A man by the name of Taruko. He will meet you at the village gates. It also says here that this is a surprise so discretion is in order."

"Why would a priestess need to worry about someone killing her," Shino asked. He wore the vest of a chunin.

"...She and the demon recently destroyed a different demon that lead an army. Its human supporters are still out there. Though they lack the power to attack her, they may still try something."

"Which is where we come in," Kiba boasted. "With Akamaru's and my nose, and Shino's bugs, we can catch anything."

"We will take the mission then," Kurenai told him. She motioned her team to the door and the headed out. "Kiba, Shino, go inform your parents that you will be gone. Hinata, your clan." Kurenai's red eyes once again locked with Hinata's stormy gray eyes and she felt regret for not being able to protect her student. But she also saw through Hinata's half lidded eyes that she did not regret. Though she still held onto that fox plushy. At least it was in the pack on her back instead of in her arms like before. Her team gave a "Hai," before heading off.

—oo000oo—

Hinata walked through the village of Kibou. It was very nice, in her oppinion. She knew that Kiba could never settle here, too quiet even during a celebration. Kiba and Shino were going through the food as it came in. Kurenai-sensei was handling crowd control so things kept moving at a steady pace inside. Leaving Hinata to check the food and such already inside. She had it easier now that no one that knew her was around and just tasted a sample of each. After all, she didn't have to worry about being poisoned. After tasting some of the berries, she paused. "These are poisonous, who brought them in?"

"A merchant," the clerk told her. "I will have the guards bring him in now if he is still here."

"Good," she said. "Place these with the others."

"Yes ma'am. Aren't you afraid of being poisoned?"

"No. Is this the last of it?"

"Here," he told her. "Kitsune-sama is currently going over some food when he found out that you were here to check food for poison. Took a lot of smooth talking to keep him from finding out what we are planning."

"Who?"

"Oh, pardon me, you don't know. He is the fox demon that lives in the village." He saw surprise in her eyes right then, followed by sadness. "Something wrong?"

"I just miss a fox that used to live in my village."

"...If you want to say hello, he is in the room right over there with Shion-sama."

"I would like to." She turned and walk to the door. Before she could reach for it, the door opened to reveal a blond haired girl with eyes similar to what she used to have. They stared at each other for a moment. "Hello, I am Akatsuki Hinata."

The girl looked at her headband then her eyes. "...Shion. I didn't know it was Leaf ninja that were checking for poisons."

"Is that a problem," Hinata asked.

"Pardon this Naruto, Shion-chan, he must get through." Hinata widened her eyes as she heard that voice and name. The door opened wider and there he stood. He froze when he saw her. "Oh, that is why you weren't moving. Hello, Hyuuga-san."

Hinata tried to say something, anything! He was here, _right here_, in front of her. Memories of him rushed through her mind. Him smiling at her back at the academy. Shouting how he would beat everyone in the Chunin exam. Her face turned bright red. Him standing there in his ruined clothes. She worked her jaw as her eyes looked him down then up. Her eyes settled on his ears and then she found her voice. "KUWAII!" Once again, Naruto was thrown back by being tackled by a girl to play with his ears.

—oo000oo—

Author Notes: I just did this to get the idea out of my head, once again. If you have a suggestion, go ahead and tell me. No, this will not be a harem. It is Naruto Shion only.


	3. Retaliation

Sasuke sat on the branch and looked at them. "I'm not impressed."

"Shit head, we aren't here to impress you," the red head told him. "We are here to kill you."

To which Sasuke yawned. "I doubt you can." They jumped at him and Sasuke rolled back, came back up, and did a round house kick to the back of the fat one. That one was thrown to the ground. Next came the one with six arms. His Sharigan activated, he twisted left and right, avoiding the attacks. When he saw the opening, he took it. His kicked out, connecting with his chest. There was a crack and he slammed into the building they had jumped from. Looking down, he saw smoke rising from the explosive tag Sasuke put there. It exploded while the one with two heads attacked now. Sasuke blocked a punch and lashed out one of his own. But an arm grew out and caught his wrist.

The girl took advantage of this and kicked him in the chest, before grunting in discomfort. It felt like she kicked a wall. Sasuke slammed his elbow down on the arm holding his, breaking it. Followed by an upper cut to his jaw, throwing him away as well. He turned to the red head. "What the hell are you," she asked.

"An Uchiha. Tell me who sent you, so I can kill him."

She growled at him before what looked like lightning bolt tattoos covered her flesh. "Go to hell!"

"...Ah, the seal. So that snake sent you? Good, I have a message for him. And you will deliver it for me." He ducked as the others came at him, all with their seals activated. "Tell Orochimaru I don't want nor need his power."

"Then you die," Kidomaru told him.

Sasuke grinned before he began to change. His chest expanded as he grew taller. Before them stood a giant humanoid raven. _**"You can try. You'll fail but you can try."**_Before long, Sasuke stood over their battered bodies. They had many tears in their flesh from his talons as well as burns from his jutsus, and bruises from his punches. He currently held the girl at eye level, two feet above the branch he stood on. Slowly, he changed back until he was human again. "You'll deliver my message, I trust?"

"Y-Yes," she told him.

He looked her up and down. "Maybe I should just have one of the others tell him and keep you to myself. After all, I literally hold your life in the palm of my hand right now."

"Fuck you," she struggled to say, making him chuckle.

"Nah, your not my type. I like strong women." He threw her a top the others. "Get out of my sight." He looked from them to Konoha. "I don't need anything else from here. No one here could possible help me get stronger now." He changed again and jumped into the air. He climbed higher and higher into the air, not caring if anyone saw him.

—oo000oo—

"The ears," Hinata about purred. "How I've missed them."

Naruto tried to protest but she had found this one spot on his right ear than made him whimper a little. "Get off of him," Shion said for him. "Naruto can barely handle having his ears rubbed like that, considering it is a sexual advance as well." Hinata took a moment to process this, her face turned red, and she moved a leg a little to feel if...she felt it hardening. She passed out and Shion lifted her off Naruto and set her against the wall. Naruto got up and shook his fur back out. "Who is this," Shion asked with a glare.

"Hyuuga Hinata, heir of the Hyuuga clan of Konoha. That is the second time she glomped this Naruto for his ears."

"Only the second?"

"This Naruto hasn't had them long." He shook his head, removing the feeling from them so he could return to 'normal'. "What are the coincidence though, that it would be Konoha that came and they would send her team. Of all of them why hers?"

"What is it they do?"

"They track and find missing or hidden things. Hinata has the Byakugan, an eye that sees through things and for great distances. Her teammates are Kiba and Shino. Kiba is dog like, including their sense of smell. And Shino is an Aburame. He controls insects." Naruto looked around for the others and didn't see, nor smell them. "For the moment, this Naruto is hidden. But not for long."

"Do you want to run?"

Naruto thought about it deeply. "No. This Naruto doesn't know fully what was said. The Council room has seals on it that prevent people from listening in on them. That he could hear them, even a little, speaks of how good his ears are. But no one knows that this Naruto is a demon. What can he say?"

"Let's wake her then."

Naruto took his tail in hand and brushed the tip of it against her nose. She moaned and wiped her nose. Naruto pulled back and did it again until she opened her eyes. "Naruto!" She hugged him. "I can't believe it, you're really here! How did you get here?"

"By running, Hyuuga-san. How have you been?"

"I...am no longer a Hyuuga, Naruto. Both me and Neji left it to start a better clan. We are Akatsuki now."

"Red dawn?"

"...To get free of the Hyuuga is a bloody ritual. While we also view leaving as the dawn on our new lives."

"That is good, this Naruto thinks, getting a new life... He imagines he has some explaining to do."

"No. I don't doubt my father and the council drove you away, Naruto-kun. But I am glad to know you are alright."

"...How is the Old Man?"

"He is... I would describe it as tired. He misses you, Naruto-kun."

Naruto was quiet for a moment. "Oh, Hinata, this is Shion-chan, this Naruto's best friend. He has been living with her and her mother, Melfena-sama."

"...Why are you talking like that?"

"Like what?"

"You said 'This Naruto'."

"This Naruto didn't," he said with a straight face.

"You just did."

"He did?" He turned to Shion. "Shion-chan, does this Naruto speak odd?"

She was quiet for a moment. "What about you is normal, Naruto?"

"...This Naruto will take that as a complement." He turned back to Hinata. "See? He doesn't."

"...Are you teasing me?"

"No more than the rest of the world." He stopped smiling. "Kiba and Shino are with you, yes? They always could see more than others. No doubt they will know this Naruto is here soon enough if not already. And from them, everyone else."

"I guess... Naruto-kun, it is safe back home, you can come back."

"Safe...for this Naruto maybe. But he will not return, not to stay."

"Why not? Everyone there wants you back?"

"No, they want this Naruto's healing back. He has realized something being here, Hinata-san. What will happen if the ability they want so bad spreads. There will be nothing stopping Konoha or whatever village gets it. From the weakest genin to the strongest jonin and even Kage, all of them just heal after a little time except for the most destructive of attacks. How long until greed sets in? What damage will be done by it?"

"B-But, I want my hero back home," Hinata whispered.

"Your hero," Shion asked.

"...When I was little, I saw how hard Naruto tried even though _everyone_ pushed him down. I wanted to be strong like that."

Naruto tilted his head, suddenly noticing something. "What happened to your eyes, they were pale blue. And you have pupils now."

"...Naruto-kun...I was as strong as you are. I faced my father and the Hyuuga clan elders. And I was exiled for it." She suddenly smiled at them. "The best decision I ever made, even if my Byakugan is gone."

"They...took your eyes," Shion asked.

"No. The Hyuuga had a cursed seal that they put on the members of the branch family. Though I was born part of the main family, I was given the curse on my forehead and then the Byakugan was sealed from me and my children."

"What did you do?"

"I told them they were wrong, that the Hyuuga needed to change to survive. They did not approve. If they had known what they had created though, they might have considered it."

"What did they create," Naruto questioned.

Hinata smiled at him, "The Akatsuki Clan. There is no more Main and Branch family, there is only Hyuuga and Akatsuki. We chose exile over servitude. Because I stood up for them, they chose me." She shook her head. "Naruto-kun, Shion-chan, can you head back please? I still have a lot of work to do, we can talk later." She shooed them away and went on to checking the food. "Naruto-kun...I have missed you and it is good to see you again. Ears and all."

He nodded in return. "And you, Hinata-san. This Naruto will see you later then, correct?"

"You bet," she said with a smile.

—oo000oo—

Sasuke landed miles away from the village. He caught a scent that interested him. It smelled of old blood from one and something familiar from the other. "Where the hell could the gaki be," a person in a black cloak groaned. On his back was a bandaged wrapped sword.

"Stop complaining," his partner told him. "No matter where he went, we will find him."

Sasuke growled, he knew that voice. "ITACHI!" He ran forward and tried to stab his brother with a kunai. Itachi side stepped it and grabbed his arm.

"Well, well, little brother..." He snapped the bone in his arm. "Coming at me like that...you are still to weak. At least you have completed your Sharigan. But still no Mangekyu, what is holding you back?"

Sasuke laughed, "That is what you think." Itachi took a look of surprise when he felt the bones mend back together. "I am going to _kill you, brother. And __**then I am going to spread your entrails across the country."**_ The two of them looked at him as he grew taller than them in moments.

"What in the name of Kami," Kisame asked, looking up at the wereraven.

"...For a moment, I thought it was Orochimaru's curse seal but this is far different," Itachi stated. He jumped out of the way when his brother snapped his beak at him.

"_**Die Itachi!"**_ He jumped into the air and started raining fireballs down on them.

"What the fuck did you do," Kisame demanded.

"...I killed my family and tortured him with my Sharigan."

"You fucking idiot!" He did several handsigns and water came shooting from his mouth. He jumped inside it to protect himself from the fires.

If Sasuke had a mouth now, he would smile. He knew how to kill him for sure. He just needed to drive him into the water. _**"Not going to run like your friend,"**_ he taunted.

"Against you, no. I don't fear weaklings." Sasuke growled and dived down. He tore a gash in the ground with his talons when he missed. He kicked again, catching only his cloak. He was beginning to move to fast for Itachi's Sharigan to help him. "Where did you get this strength?"

"_**I'm not about to tell you!" **_He punched and Itachi blocked it. There was a crack from his bones from how strong it was.

"You are strong, Sasuke," he said, taking another step back. "But you swing it around wildly, hoping it will work. You are nothing more than the wild animal you look like."

"_**Even wild animals can kill ninja!" **_Itachi stepped back and hit the water. **_"Chidori!"_** Itachi was forced back farther into it. The chidori hit the water and coursed through the whole thing. Sasuke changed back as he saw Itachi just floating there, not moving.

—oo000oo—

"Come on, Naruto," Shion said, dragging him into the village a couple of hours later. "I want to go shopping."

"Women and their need to shop," he whined. "When will you learn, 'he who knows enough is enough will always have enough'." He just sighed when Shion poked her tongue out at him.

"And I don't have enough," she told him with a smile. "There! I heard a new store that sells platinum jewelry just around the corner!"

"Okay, okay," he replied. He let her pull him some more, rounded the corner, and...

"SURPRISE," the whole village shouted at him. Banners were hung from building to building, reading, 'Thank you, Melfena! Thank you, Naruto!'

Naruto looked at it all, amazed. "No...did you know about this, Shion-chan?"

She smiled shamelessly, "I did. The whole village wanted to thank you for saving us. You and mother."

"This Naruto can't, he couldn't... He could!" He started laughing as they dragged him in.

Off to the side, Kurenia stared in amazement. Naruto was actually enjoying himself in this small village. Being a master of hiding what was beneath the surface herself, she knew that Naruto had hurt in Konoha. But here, among people that had only known him for a short amount of time, he was as happy as a child should be. It made her feel...guilty that he was happier with strangers. "Damn lucky fox," Kiba growled.

"What," Shino asked.

"Her," he said, pointing to Shion. "It never fails, since he got those ears and tail, women have loved him."

Hinata blushed, "And there is _that_."

"Don't remind us," Shino said, almost groaning. He glanced at Kurenai and saw she was blushing a little as well.

They looked back to Naruto to see him eating enough for ten. He grabbed a passing pitcher of tea, drained it, and continued eating. Then someone called out for a speech. "This Naruto? Okay...he has one. This Naruto was literally trained, born, and bred for combat. He couldn't have ever imagined his life without it before he came here. In a way, he has to thank the Hokage and Council for scaring him into running away. Because, if they did not, he would be in Konoha, fighting men and women that he has nothing against. But here, in this place, he now dreams simple dreams. Growing old, raising a family, having friends that truly care. Not being around people that brood all the time, that favor one over another because he seems better, and are entralled over someone's prestige and blood."

"His team," Hinata muttered.

"He is happy here and he never wants to leave. This Naruto knows that he doesn't know some of you half as well he should. And others, he likes all too much it seems. But with the welcome he found here, there is _nothing_ this Naruto would not put on the line to protect it and everyone here!" People started clapping and patting him on the back. "But let us not forget the real hero of this village. Priestess Melfena. This Naruto may have slain a demon, but she saved this Naruto." He picked up a glass and stood. "To Priestess Melfena." His toast was repeated by everyone there, raising their glass as well and looking at the priestess. "Now... Aren't we supposed to be having a fiesta!?" Everyone laughed and the music started playing.

"...Kurenai-sensei, what are we supposed to do," Hinata asked. "He is happy here but we were ordered that if we find him, we were to return him to Konoha."

She watched Naruto for a minute. "We'll ask him to come peacefully," she replied. "After that...we will be forced to take him." She noticed Naruto's ears twitched and he glanced over to them. But only for a heartbeat. He looked past them and waved as several people came behind them to the party, letting Kurenai swallow her heart.

"Well, could we force him," Kiba asked. "If what they said is true, he did kill a powerful demon." He turned back to look at him to find Naruto crouching down on the table in front of him, smiling. "WHOA!"

"HAHAH! Nervous? Come on, Kiba, there are several girls over there eying you and Shino." He pulled them to their feet and pulled them along.

Hinata watched him walk away. "Would it be right to take him away from here? He is happy here."

"...Our orders are absolute. We have to take him back." She watched him pushed the two over to a bunch of girls and slap them on the back. "...I want to find out about his life here. And that woman that brought him to the party." Before she could move though, she saw Naruto stop, rub his chin, and turn to Shino.

"This Naruto apologizes for what he must do." Faster than they could react, he moved. His hands came up and...lowered the lip of Shino's coat and raised his sunglasses for all the world to see for an instant. Hinata, Kurenai, and Kiba tensed as no one had ever actually had the nerve to do it. "Gomennasai, but this Naruto had to make sure."

Shino straightened his glasses and coat lip. "You could have asked."

"True," Naruto said, nodding and his arms crossed. "But you would have told this Naruto no. And besides, not only are these this Naruto's friends, he was curious."

"About what?"

"A rumor he heard once, that you had bug eyes. Nope, two normal human eyes. Though they are unusually pale." He continued to drag them over.

Hinata stood up and walked over to Shion. "Hello again."

"Hey Hinata," she said, turning to her. "Enjoying yourself?"

"I am," she replied. She sat down next to her. "...How has Naruto-kun been here?"

"He has been fine. Everyone loves him and he helps out whenever he can."

"What does he do?"

"What do you mean? As an occupation or in general?"

"Both."

"He does whatever he wants. As for an occupation, he is one of the guards at the temple. My personal protector in fact."

"...He is going to have to return. The Hokage wants him back."

"And if he doesn't want to go back?"

Hinata was quiet for a moment. "We have our orders. We are to bring Naruto back."

"You ninja, never leaving well enough alone. Well, let me tell you something. Naruto has hurt far too much there."

Hinata lowered her head. "I know."

"No you don't! You were the heir of the Hyuuga clan! You had to go to another country to find someone that didn't know your name! You couldn't possibly know how he was starved."

"I do," she replied, head still lowered.

"NO! You always had it provided for you! You never had beatings or..."

"I KNOW," Hinata cried, tears in her eyes. Everyone was looking at them. "I know, damn it! I saw how much he hurt! I hurt so much, wanting to help him but I wasn't even strong enough to help myself! You think I want him to go back there!? I tears me apart that I must ask him to go back! At the same time, knowing that the person that made me so strong will be there heals my heart! Don't accuse me of not knowing what it was like for Naruto-kun there! I may not have lived his life but I watched it! You only know what he told you, I saw it! I hurt as he hurt!" She lowered her voice and head again. "I wanted to help him, tell him at least one person in Konoha cared for him. Was concerned for him. But I was always afraid he would hate me like my clan did. And I lost my chance. I'm just a slightly talented, average genin now, I have nothing I could offer him except my...my..." She knelt down, shaking as she sobbed.

A hand rested on her shoulder. She looked up to see it was Naruto. "This Naruto will return, Hinata-chan, if only for a while. You don't need to cry. Besides, this Naruto has something he wants to talk to the old man about." A determined look entered his face and Hinata swore she saw the Fourth for an instant.

—oo000oo—

Sasuke stopped smirking when Itachi moved for a moment. Then he popped. "Kage Bunshin!" Itachi grabbed his arm and threw him into a tree.

"And you never noticed," Itachi replied. "You have grown more powerful, that is sure. But it is not enough for these eyes." Sasuke snarled as he changed back. "A rabid animal, nothing more."

"_**You will DIE!"**_ Sasuke kicked at him, his taijutsu made all the more dangerous by the talons. Itachi moved back and Sasuke with him. As long as he stayed to just using final form Sharigan, he knew he would win. And Itachi began to worried that Sasuke might actually be a challenged unless he stepped it up. His sharigan turned into the three point shuriken Sasuke still had nightmares about.

"...I think it will be better if I just take your arm. You might stop my plans at this rate. Sorry, brother." He hesitated for an instant before the black fire shot from his eye to Sasuke's arm. He roared in pain while he tried to put it out. When Itachi released them, both of Sasuke's arms were ruined, features and muscle charred. But they began to rebuild. Soon, his wings were usable again

"_**Do you have a plan B,"** _Sasuke asked. _**"Like this, I can't die. I know, I tested my limits."**_ He pulled one of his kunai out and stabbed himself in the heart. The blade was just pushed out by the healing flesh. He laughed while Itachi stared at him, disbelieving his eyes. But stopped when Samehada came down on his arm and leg, cutting them off. Sasuke fell, glaring while the limbs changed back and new ones began to grow.

"Just what the hell is he," Kisame demanded.

"I have no idea," Itachi replied. "Leave him though. All he has is his inability to die. He lacks the strength to actually beat us." He turned and walked away. "We still need to find Naruto."

"_**WHAT,"**_ Sasuke roared.

"Yes, we are after Naruto," Itachi told him. "You didn't think we came for you, did you?"

"_**What is so special about Naruto!?"**_

"He's the legacy of the Fourth."

"_**What?"**_

"He has the Kyuubi sealed inside of him." To their surprise, he began to laugh. "What's so funny?"

"_**Just...you... Thinking Naruto holds something like that. HAHA! What's your proof, that he has whiskers?"**_

"Actually, yes," Itachi replied. "All jinchuuriki has features of their demon on their face."

That made Sasuke laugh harder. _** "That's rich! Naruto is a werefox! He not only has whiskers, he has a fox tail and ears on his head. And he turns into a eight foot tall, humanoid fox and a four foot tall giant fox! Bright yellow, too. Oh yeah, real monster there."**_ The bones in his leg finished and he tried to stand up again. **_ "Poor little Itachi, went looking for a bijuu and only found a demon."_** His arm wasn't done yet and neither were the muscles on his leg. _**"Ironic, when you die, it will be by a giant raven. You still use that jutsu to vanish into ravens, right?"**_

Itachi watched a moment. "Where is Naruto?"

"_**Gone. Been gone for months."**_

"Let's go, Kisame, being here does us no good." Sasuke glared as they left. Knowing already that he would find no trace of them. But, in the back of his mind, he had to wonder. Were they telling the truth?

—oo000oo—

Naruto released Shion from the hug and stepped back a bit. "This Naruto won't be away long, Shion-chan. Konoha can't keep him there."

"I'm still worried," she said to him. "You are so dense at times. And they hurt you so much there. Even thought you are his son."

"That this Naruto is his son doesn't matter. He was named Uzumaki, meaning he was denied his birthright. Let them have it. This is where he belongs now." He hugged her again before he turned around and headed to the gate. "This Naruto will make sure to get you a gift while there," he called back to her. He reached team eight and looked at them. "Lets get this over with. This Naruto cannot leave them unprotected for long."

"They have their militia," Kurenai told him. "As a ninja, you owe them no allegiance either."

"As a civilian, this Naruto owes Konoha no allegiance either," Naruto replied. "He is doing this so Hinata-chan won't hurt and to get this out of the way."

"You are a ninja, Naruto," Kurenai told him.

"This Naruto is a simple guard in a simple temple. Ninjas wear headbands marking their village, he does not." He crouched before jumping into the trees. "Let's hurry, it is a long ways away."

—oo000oo—

Many people stared at the regal looking person that walked into Konoha, flanked by team eight. His clothes were that of a noble and his stride was one that said he would walk through a wall if it got in his way. On the center of his forehead was a tattoo of the crescent moon His robes were white with red symbols. While he also wore black armor. At his side was a long straight sword. His hair was long, smooth, and blond. And so was his tail and fox ears. Few recognized him as Naruto, he looked far different from the boy that ran a few months ago. All that did also noticed he no longer even had his headband.

Naruto enter the top floor of the Hokage Tower. "This Naruto needs to see the Hokage." The secretary looked up at him in shock. "He'll just go on in then." He strode up to the door and pushed it open. "Honorable Hokage, this Naruto needs to have a word with you."

Sarutobi looked at him in surprise, how could he not. He had expected to see the same boy when he finally returned. But this Naruto was far from him. He was calm and polite. And lacked the warmth he had before. "Naruto...I hardly recognized you."

"Happens when you are fed," Naruto replied. "Namikaze Minato," he stated coldly.

Sarutobi swallowed, "What about the Fourth? We actually need to talk about..."

"About this Naruto really being his son. Instead of it just being a lie to the council," Naruto interrupted. "And this time, _Honorable_ Hokage, no lies."

"...Naruto, you have to understand, it was for the good of the village."

"This Naruto has seen how things that are for the good of the village really work! One for all, all for one, and the heavens be blessed! The village works for the one, the one works for the village, and both prosper! What did this Naruto get aside from pain!?"

"Naruto, calm down, you don't understand."

"Then make me understand," Naruto shouted, dropping his normal speech. "Explain to me why a child had to starve! Explain to me why a child had to go through life alone, thinking his parents didn't want him! Explain to me why it wasn't safe on his birthday!" Naruto put his hand on the desk and pushed it out of the way, throwing it out of the window. "Explain to me why people were talking about throwing him in prison when he had the chance to leave! Then explain why he should stay."

Sarutobi swallowed, looking at not only the ANBU but also civilians and ninja that came in to find out what was going on. "It is not that simple, Naruto."

"How is it not simple? How was this Naruto's treatment growing up not simple? How is it that this Naruto is not only the only son of the Fourth Hokage, he is this village's personal martyr, having to give everything he has and more to it for nothing? How is it that this Naruto wasn't even told he had parents in this world at one time!? Instead of being lied to saying you don't know! You chose him! You chose him as your successor! You would damn well know who he is!"

"Naruto, the Fourth had enemies both inside and outside the village," Sarutobi tried to explain.

"And this Naruto had _more_ inside the village! The only reason he is even wanted back here right now is because of his healing!"

"Naruto, you're wrong," Sarutobi told him.

"How!? The council was more ready to believe this Naruto was some nobody orphan than the son of the fucking Fourth!"

Now, Sarutobi was getting angry. "You will speak of him with respect, son or not! He gave his life for this village!"

"That's another thing! You always speak of giving everything you have for the village so why was it when the choice came, you were not the one to seal the Kyuubi!?"

"I begged your father to let me! That he was needed more than me! But he said it was his duty to do it, and would let no one else do it!"

"So he left this Naruto alone in the world!? That reminds this Naruto, what happened to his mother!?"

He swallowed again. "Naruto please..."

"WHAT HAPPENED!?"

"...No one knows for sure, we couldn't find her in the aftermath."

Naruto glared at him. "So this Naruto was to what? Survive by himself?"

"No, the village was supposed to see you as a hero."

"And we see how well that worked out," Naruto snapped. "Originally, he wondered just what was it you said before opening that door. Now it doesn't matter."

"Naruto, I told them I wouldn't let them throw you in prison! Please!"

"No, no more chances, no more lies. Your teams have found this Naruto. He has returned. And he is giving his decision. He is leaving Konoha and never coming back."

"That choice was for a boy of the Kitsune Clan, you are the son of the Fourth!"

"This Naruto doesn't see the son of the Fourth here. It sounds like you are talking about him but of course you couldn't be. After all, Uzumaki Naruto is a clanless bastard, one no one cares for. One nobody wants around. You can't stop this Naruto from leaving." He turned to leave.

"Naruto, please give the village another chance!"

Naruto stopped. "This Naruto noticed you didn't say a second chance. After all, that was years ago." He turned back to him. "Why should he? Why should this Naruto give you the chance to hurt him again?"

Sarutobi was quiet a moment. "Then your father's sacrifice would be for nothing."

"Not good enough. This Naruto already sees it as for nothing. Two more tries, _Honorable_ Hokage."

"...What about the people that care for you?"

"Like who, this Naruto's team? Let's look at that. His sensei doesn't care for him, his teammates would rather not have him. Iruka-sensei? Yes, he cares for this Naruto; though only just recently. As such, he will want him to be happy. The Ichruka family are the only ones that have ever cared for him unbiased. And this Naruto will miss them a great deal. More than even their ramen. Last try."

Sarutobi swallowed, there was one thing Naruto would never do, let people hurt. "Because it is the humane thing to do. Let them make up for what they did to you and take away the pain they feel for it."

Naruto just stared at him for a moment before he began to smirk. Followed by mirthless chuckles. Soon, he was giving a full blown laugh. As he did, he changed into his hybrid form. _**"I'm not human,"**_ he said simply. _**"That was your third chance. All have failed. Goodbye and good riddance."**_ Naruto turned to the window, grabbed the lip, and swung up on the roof. He was about to leave when several mask men appeared. _**"Now comes the part where you try to make this Naruto to stay, correct?"**_

"They are not ANBU," a man said, walking up onto the roof.

"_**Danzou,"**_ Naruto acknowledged.

"Namikaze Naruto," he replied with a nod. When Naruto made no acknowledgment, Danzou corrected himself. "Uzumaki Naruto." Now Naruto nodded.

"_**What do you want, human?"**_

"I want to simply understand how such a change happened."

Naruto looked him up and down. He could hear his heartbeat in his ears, not a good sign. Naruto was so mad, he was more predator than himself. He growled and turned away. _**"What would you do with it if this Naruto told you?"**_

"Increase the strength of the village, of course."

"_**Then it is something I will not tell you. Nor any other village. All you ninja's can go to hell, I have had enough."**_

"How about in exchange for other information."

"_**What could you possible know that would interest me?"**_

"Well, the true meaning of Jinchuuriki is one. The possible location of your mother is another. Uzumaki Kushina."

Naruto turned to him. _**"You have this Naruto's attention, human."**_

"I thought I would. First, the very thought of a jinchuuriki was created by the First Hokage. They were to be the weapons of the village. This wasn't done for you because it wasn't meant to happen. The Kyuubi somehow escaped our control."

"_**How were they meant to be a weapon?"**_

"You see, the First had the ability to control the Bijuu thanks to his bloodline. And he gave two Bijuu to the other great five. But as they didn't have his bloodline, they couldn't control them so he came up with sealing them in humans so that human can control them, thus the village controls them." Naruto nodded, urging him to continue. "It must be a child because the sudden influx of chakra is enough to kill most adults. But a child can grow to it. Thus, my personal belief why you have so much chakra on your own, to better prepare yourself for the Kyuubi's."

Naruto nodded again and faced him. _**"This is no doubt an S class secret. You could lose your life for speaking of it to someone outside the village. Is the gain that worth it?"**_

"With what I saw you survive, yes." After a moment, Naruto motioned for him to continue. "When the jinchuuriki grows old, the bijuu is taken from within him and sealed inside an object until the next sealing into a jinchuuriki."

"_**...What about missions? What about them dying while away from the village?"**_

"For the most part, the seals are not good enough to actually kill the demon with the host. When they die, the demon is released, to be recaptured at a later time. This has happened recently with the Kiri jinchuuriki. She has died and they are unable to capture Sanbi Isonade. This is the most common way they lose their demons. Though it only barely beats them driving away the jinchuuriki like we have."

"_**Was I supposed to be a weapon?"**_

"No. You were completely unplanned. The Kyuubi escaped from the object he was sealed in and headed to Konoha to destroy it. There was supposed to be no one that could stop in with the First dead. But Namikaze Minato wasn't willing to let it win. He knew he could seal it, even at the cost of his own life. Now, I have held up half of my end of the bargain. How did this happen to you?"

Naruto ran a claw over his whiskers, trying to decide if that was satisfactory. _**"You have. This Naruto is like this because he was given a disease inside the Forest of Death. One the Kyuubi's chakra fought against. This Naruto is constantly healed by his chakra. And it came to the point that this Naruto couldn't be healed while he was still human. So he was changed into a fox demon."**_

"That's it?"

"_**That's it. The Kyuubi actually likes it this was better. If he is going to be stuck inside something, it might as well be another demon."**_

Danzou watched him a moment, trying to find out if he was lying. "You're lying."

Naruto smirked, _**"This Naruto is. In part. The Kyuubi did play a part in becoming what he is. You want to know the second part, tell him where his mother is."**_

Danzou nodded, "She left. A few days after it happen, she left for her home. The Land of Whirlpools."

"_**Why did she leave me? Was it because of the Council?"**_

"I have no doubt they played a part in it," Danzou told him. "But if you want the full answer, you will need to ask her. Now, what was the first part?"

"_**A demon bit me, infecting me with primitive lycanthopesy. After I killed the beast, Kyuui took my curse and evolved it into what you see before you. Completely unreproducible."**_

Danzou sighed, "That is too bad. Though, maybe in time we will. Peace upon you, Uzumaki Naruto." He box to him.

Naruto bowed back after a moment. _**"And you, Danzou."**_ Naruto jumped off, changing into a human along the way down. He sniffed around and found Hinata's scent. He would at least give her a proper goodbye. She deserved that.

Before he found her though, he was found by his former team. "Naruto," Sakura asked from behind him. Sighing, he turned around and faced them. "It is you!" She ran over to him before going to punch him. "Where have you been, baka!" She swung her fist and Naruto caught it.

Growling, he squeezed a little. "This Naruto has been gone, what more do you need to know?"

"Stop, you're hurting me," she yelled at him.

Naruto let go and stepped back. "Naruto, why did you do that," Kakashi asked him.

"Because this Naruto was defending himself. Now, this Naruto has something important to do." He turned to walk away again.

"Dobe," Sasuke growled. "Get back here."

Naruto gripped his fist tightly. "What do you want, Sasuke?"

"I heard that rumor, that you killed a demon. How?"

"How doesn't matter. I'm leaving."

"What's wrong Naruto," Kakashi asked him. "You're finally back, things can return to normal."

"Because this Naruto doesn't want them the way they were," he replied. "This Naruto doesn't even want to stay in this village. This Naruto wants to go to his home and never come back. Why should he want to be beaten, ignored, and insulted? When he can be respected, honored, and loved. This Naruto made his choice, he has resigned as a ninja, is leaving Konoha, and is never returning." He turned and left.

Sakura just gaped at his back. "He's joking... He's joking right, sensei? Naruto won't just leave."

Kakashi stared after him, "I think Sakura...he saw something out there, something that changed his entire perspective."

"What was it?"

"Kindness, acceptance. Everything he was looking for in Konoha."

—oo000oo—

"Dobe, I'm not done with you," Sasuke shouted.

Naruto stopped and faced him. "Sasuke, shut up and leave this Naruto alone before he decides to kill you."

"How did you do it," Sasuke growled. "And I know about you being a werefox and I know that it didn't give you the strength to do it."

Naruto growled at him. "Shut up! This Naruto should kill you! He had his future told, Sasuke. What to know what it said? It was that years in the future, you would kill him!"

They glared at each other a moment. "Tell me how."

"Not everyone gives you what you want," Naruto growled.

"Then I will beat it out of you." He ran forward and punched Naruto. Unlike the punch months before where he only hurt his hand, he threw Naruto back into a training ground.

"Okay, wasn't expecting that." Naruto stood at his full height. "How this Naruto did it doesn't matter, he did it." When Sasuke came at him again, Naruto punched him in the jaw, not holding back. Sasuke flew into a tree, making a sickening crack.

"That hurt," he growled, blood coming from his broken jaw. He began to grow larger, the bones mending while he did. _"You aren't the only special **one here, Naruto,"**_ the wereraven told him.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Well, thats interesting." He shook his head then. "This Naruto understands now. You are strong like this but not always, right? You want to know what the difference is. Its simple, this Naruto is stuck between transforming and being human, his powers are constant. You change fully back into human, raven-chan." He turned to leave, "Fly off and bug someone that'll kiss your ass and tell you it don't stink."

Sasuke roared in rage and went to strike him. It was quickly followed by another roar, one far deeper, far more powerful. Something ten feet tall and five feet wide slammed into him. _**"You will not hurt him," **_it shouted.

Naruto spun around and looked at a bear wearing ripped clothes. "Hinata!?"

"_**WHAT!?" **_Sasuke looked at the bear as it growled at him.

Hinata stood on two legs, claws held to tear Sasuke apart. _**"I said you won't hurt him."**_

Naruto looked at her as he never before did. He knew that the weak, timid Hinata was gone but he didn't she had literally been filled with the will and strength of a bear. "Hinata, what happened to you?"

"_**This is the mark of the Akatsuki clan," **_she told him. **_"This is our contribution to Konoha now, secret though it is."_**

He seemed to drop his jaw. "You're a werebear! No, a true werebear! How!?"

"_**True werebear," **_Sasuke snapped at him.**_ "What is the difference!?"_**

Naruto looked at him and changed himself. _**"The difference is the power, little raven. We are not human. Hinata is a werebear, a half human, half bear that changes into full human or bear. I am half human, half fox, that changes into human or fox. You, on the other hand, are a human cursed with lycanthopecy. You change into a raven or half raven. We will always heal, you only when you change or start to. Though how you change at will is beyond me."**_

Sasuke glared at them a moment before returning to normal. "We shall meet again, demon."

Naruto watched him a moment before doing the same. "This Naruto should kill him, everyone part of him, even his animal part, screams for it."

Hinata changed back as well, unsealing a long coat and putting it on for decency. "I never knew..."

Naruto sighed and turned to her. "So, werebear?"

She blushed at being the center of his attention. "My great-great aunt is a true werebear. When I was cursed with the seal and it took my byakugan, it made my curse true as well."

Naruto nodded, "Same as the rest of your clan?"

"Yes."

He sighed, "Hinata, you must be careful, this is very dangerous. It can very easily spread and cause disaster."

"I know, that's why I ordered it a secret from the village as well."

Naruto glanced where Sasuke had been. "There's something else, this Naruto believes Sasuke will try to kill him in the future. Shion-hime saw it in one of her foretelling. Whether or not it is because this Naruto is no longer human, he doesn't know. But be careful around him." He began to whisper so only ones with animal hearing like him and her could understand. "Silver is the only means beyond destroying our head to kill us. If we're stabbed by it, it won't heal until it is removed."

She nodded, "We'll be careful, Naruto-kun." She suddenly drew up her courage. "Do you like me this way, Naruto-kun?"

He swallowed, his instincts telling him to run, "Like? Of course this Naruto likes you, Hinata-chan." He started to take a step back.

She followed him, "I'm glad but do you _like_ me like me this way?" She grabbed his arm and he found that her strength far outmatched his. Her face was emotionless, "If you did like me, why do you back away? You hate me like this, don't you? I knew it," she said, letting go and crouching. "I can't do anything right, you probably find me disgusting."

He crouched down beside her, "No, Hinata-chan, never. This Naruto... I was just uncomfortable with the conversation. I do like you, Hinata-chan, and this makes you even more exotic in my eyes. But I don't like you that way."

"Why not," she asked, beginning to cry. "I worked so hard to be with you, I changed so much so you would approve of me."

Naruto frowned, "Hinata, you shouldn't change for my approval, you should've changed for your own. Look at yourself over who you used to be, do you like it better or worst?"

She was quiet a moment. "Hyuuga Hinata was weak, Akatsuki Hinata is far stronger. I wouldn't change back for nothing."

Naruto smiled, "Then it was worth. As for why...I don't know. You're scent drives me near wild, you are very beautiful, you just...don't cause my heart to pound, my stomach to get butterflies." He gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Maybe in time that will change but not right now."

Hinata stopped crying and sighed, "It's Shion, isn't it? I should've recognized how you looked at her." Naruto slowly nodded. "And she is why, more than how you were treated, you aren't staying, isn't she?" Naruto looked away, giving her her answer. She gave him a kiss on the cheek as well. "Fine, that is how it is. She better take good care of you, Naruto-kun, because if she doesn't, I will take you for myself."

"Deal," Naruto replied. "Thank you for understanding, Hinata-chan."

She stood up, "Now, you are staying the night, with my clan, in the house that should have been your's. And if you don't, I will have Akatsuki hunting you down before sunset." She poked him in the chest. "You will be dragged back, tied up and gagged if need be." Naruto swallowed and nodded. "Good. Now I think I held myself back as long as I could. KUWAI!" She glomped him and started playing with his ears.

—oo000oo—

The now Akatsuki clan estate was located in a forested area of Konoha. Inside the walls, Naruto saw at least fifty members. He could tell by their scents that all of them, even the children, were werebears. He watched as a couple a kids were playing, changing into bear cups. "This is incredible, Hinata-chan."

"It is a very lovely home."

"Forget the home, its just wood and slate, its the people that matters."

"Well said, young man," an old woman said to him. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Kuma, Hinata-sama's great great aunt."

"This Naruto is honored to meet you, ma'am," he said, bowing.

Kuma walked around him, "My, look at you. Last I saw you, you looked like a street urchin. Now look at you, dress and as well behaved as any noble."

"Thank you for your compliments, ma'am," Naruto replied. "And also thank you for what you did for this Naruto's friend."

She waved it off, "Hinata-sama did it all her own, I merely gave her a push. You were actually just as much an influence. Now come, young man, I believe there are somethings here that belong to you." She started inside and he followed. The main house where she took him was filled with people at the moment. She lead him to a room used for storage. "Here it is," she said, pulling out a drawer in a desk. She held up a scroll, "I, Namikaze Minato, in sound body and health, leave all my worldly possessions to my wife, Uzumaki Kushina, and son, Namikaze Naruto. This land and everything from it is your's. What do you wish done with it?"

Naruto looked around him, "It's just an empty house to this Naruto, he doesn't want it. It belongs to the Akatsuki clan anyway."

"Is there anything you do want?"

Naruto looked around the room at the personal things of his parents. He picked up a picture of them holding one another and took it out of the frame. "Are there any jutsu scrolls?"

"Many."

"This Naruto would like the originals."

She nodded and poked her head outside, "Gather all the scrolls that were in this house."

"Make sure to have copies made," Naruto told her. "They are your's now as well." She smiled and nodded. After ordering that, she looked back at him to see him looking at the picture.

"You look very much so like your father."

"This Naruto...wants to hate him. So much so. When he first found out about the Kyuubi, for a moment, he did. Again when he found out he was his son. But, for some damn reason, he can't."

Hinata, standing at the door now, said, "Because he is also your hero, remember? Your anger made you hate him those times but if he hadn't done what he did, none of us would be here to discuss this."

Naruto touched the image of his mother. "Why did she leave this Naruto? Did she hate him as well? Kuma-san, you've live here a long time, did you know Uzumaki Kushina, did she hate this Naruto for what happened?"

"I did meet her once, child," Kuma told him. "I do not believe she would hate you for something your father did."

"Then why?"

"I don't know. You must ask her."

Naruto carefully folded it up and put it in his pocket. He found one of his father alone and kept that as well, just in case he found himself destroying the first one. He looked around and was about to leave when he felt a coat put on his shoulders. "What's this..." It was a white long coat with flames at the bottom.

"I believe it suits you, Naruto-kun," Hinata told him.

He nodded his thanks, "What room can this Naruto use, Hinata-chan?"

"This way." She took him upstairs and stopped at one. "This isn't it, I just wanted to show you it." It was a baby's room. "When I have my own child, this is the room I'm going to use, Naruto-kun, your's."

Naruto lifted up a little stuffed frog. He looked around before turning back to Hinata. "Hinata-chan, I'd rather not think about what I lost."

"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun, I just thought..."

"It's alright, it is. Can we just continue?"

"Yes." She took him to a room for adults, "This will be your room whenever you come by, Naruto-kun."

"Thank you, Hinata-chan, but this Naruto doesn't really plan on coming back to Konoha."

"Still, you never know what the future holds. This room will remain open for you. Lunch will be soon." She back out, letting him be alone with his thoughts.

—oo000oo—

"Get him!"

"AH! There's too many," Naruto shouted as a bunch of kids pulled him to the ground. "No, help! AGH!" He twitched and fell limp.

The kids all looked at his face, "He's dead," one said.

"If Hinata-sama finds out, we're dead," another told them in fear.

The leader of the group thought hard, "...Ah, right, throw into the woods." The three of them pumped their fist. "Right!" They each grabbed a leg or his tail and began to pulled. Naruto watched them tug and smiled. Grinning, he did a simple henge to make himself look like a zombie. Then he moaned and slowly began to sit up.

They all looked at him in fear and he did the final number, "Brains..." He reached for them and they screamed before running off, shouting, "ZOMBIE!"

Naruto dropped the henge and began to laugh. "Having fun," Neji asked.

"Very much so," he stated, jumping to his feet. "Not everyday this Naruto get to mess with kids like this."

Neji nodded. "Lady Hinata will miss you."

Naruto sighed, "This Naruto knows that. And didn't you hate her?"

Neji nodded, "I did. Wrongly, I know, but it made me feel better about my father's death. If only we did this long ago, he'd still be alive."

Naruto sighed and said, "Hind sight is twenty twenty."

"Too true." He looked up, grinned, and stepped out from in front of Naruto. Just before those three tackled him to the ground with from behind with six others.

"Bears are always in family groups," the leader yelled in triumph. "Kill the zombie!"

"Neji, help!"

"I think I hear Lady Hinata summoning me," he said walking away.

Naruto growled before his tail wrapped around the leg of one of the boys and swung him around as fast as he could. "AH! I'm gonna die! I'm gonna throw up and then I'm gonna die," the boy shouted.

Naruto pushed himself to his feet, the kids still holding on. "Off, you little rug rats!"

"We're bears, not rats," a girl scolded

Naruto looked at them all clinging to him before shaking, trying to throw them off. Didn't work. "Rodents," he mock insulted. A flash of inspiration and he made a clone. He ran off and came back with some honey. "I swear, get off or I'll eat it all myself."

"No fair," they all complained.

"At least it wasn't a picnic basket," Naruto told them.

One girl glared at him, "That means war!" She bit him.

"OW! Get her off, get her off!" The clone grabbed her and began tickling her until she let go from laughing. Seeing it worked with one, Naruto made a clone to do the same for each. When finally he was free, he let them down.

"Huddle," the cubs said before going into a planning circle. They talked for a moment before they clapped their hands at once. "Break." They got in a line against the clones. "Blue forty two, blue forty two." They changed into bears. _**"Hut, hut, hike!"**_ The ran forward, hoping to tackle them but instead were only picked up by the scruffs of their necks. **_"Aha! AH!"_** The leader swiped his clones with his claws, dispelling him, meaning he was dropped from four feet in the air. _**"Ow,"**_ he said, rubbing his butt.

Naruto laughed at them before jumping up into the trees. "Kids," he muttered.

"You handle them very well," Hinata called from the ground.

"Thank you," Naruto replied before jumped down by her. "Alright you cubs, go play else where." This was met with groans and moans. "Go on." The ran off and Naruto turned back to Hinata. "Yes?"

"The Hokage sent a message saying he would like to speak with you."

"No."

"Naruto..."

"No, Hinata-chan! He made his choices, this Naruto made his own and they don't coincide! He chose the village over this Naruto, making this Naruto realize no one else will watch out for him!"

"I will," she told him.

"That's not what this Naruto meant, Hinata-chan."

"But you still said it. I won't force you to go see him, Naruto-kun, but if he comes here, you tell him yourself. I think you should though. It'll eat you up if you don't."

"No," he replied, "it won't." He headed to his room, pulled off his armor and robes, and laid down to sleep. He woke up later in the evening to hear a bell being rung. Looking out the window, he saw those in this animal and hybrid forms change back into humans and fix their clothing. He heard the bell ringer calling out, "Visitor! Visitor!"

Naruto sighed and waited. "He is inside, Lord Hokage," he heard Hinata say out in the hall.

When there was a knock on the door, Naruto said, "Enter."

The Hokage opened the door and said, "Naruto I..." He trailed off seeing Naruto's state of dress. He was still standing in front of the window wearing just his boxers. Clearly showing all the scars on his back.

"This Naruto didn't have anything to cover them up when he left," he said without looking at him. "Amazed that there are so many?" He grabbed his clothes and put them on. "When this Naruto was here, he wore his jump suit to hide them. When he had to go without a shirt, he wore a genjutsu to cover them." He finally looked at the Hokage, over his nose down across his left cheek was another scar. "This is what you want this Naruto to return to." The Hokage couldn't say anything, how could he. He didn't even know how bad Naruto had it while here. There were scars on his back from whips, knives, glass, rocks, and anything else that could be used as a weapon, even what looked like boards with nails in them. "You know why this Naruto didn't complain? Because he never thought it would be any different outside the village to inside it. He actually thought his treatment here was normal. Do you understand now? Put yourself in this Naruto's shoes and say any different."

Sarutobi just looked at him, still seeing the scars that riddled his body. He slowly turned around and left, having finally given up. Naruto returned to looking out the window, he won. No yelling, no shouting, but he wish it hadn't taken that. He hated revealing his scars. Pulling his shirt off again, he made a clone and had him rub an anointment Dr. Yatou gave him to help those fade away. He said with a few years, they might go away. Might. Once it was in, Naruto redid the genjutsu to hide them and sat down. He still remembered the pain of each one. Right down to the glass bottle that did the one on his face. He wore a bandage over it for months until he learned the henge to cover them up. He saw a mirror and looked at his face. That was supposed to be his mirror, his real face. Even for Hinata, he didn't think he could come back here again.

"Hokage-sama," Hinata said when she saw him walk out less than thirty seconds after going in. "Didn't you come to talk to him," she asked.

"I don't have the right to," he told her. "I saw what he was hiding from me all these years." Hinata was about to go in. "Don't, its better if you don't see. I think he would prefer if no one ever again saw those." He walked away, leaving Hinata to wonder what it was he saw.

—oo000oo—

"Well, Hinata-chan, it was fun but this Naruto wants to return home," Naruto told Hinata the next day as she was seeing him off.

"Good bye, Naruto-kun, I hope I get to see you again."

"Always a good chance of that," he told her. He turned around and began walking away, heading in the direction of the Land of Whirlpools. Once out of sight of Konoha, he changed into his hybrid and began running as fast as he could. It took him a day to get to his destination. Once there, he went to the first of the rebuilt villages and began to ask around. He knew it was likely that she would hear of him before he met her. Wasn't often a person dressed like a noble with fox ears and a tail shows up looking for someone.

"You the one looking for Uzumaki," a man said, coming up to him.

"This Naruto is," he replied.

"I can tell you where she is, for a price." His grin was wiped off when Naruto grabbed him by the throat and held him in the air.

"This Naruto isn't in the mood to deal with crooks right now. Either tell him or get out of the way," he said in an icy cold voice.

The man gasped for breath, trying to pull his grip off. "Out...side of town... Small house, fifteen minute walk south." Naruto dropped him and began walking, ignoring the sputtering coughs he gave. He found the house easily. His nose told him two women lived there, one in her thirties, the other in her early teens. He looked around the yard a moment before going up to the door and knocking. He didn't know what to think when the door opened and there stood the woman he came to see.

Kushina looked at him a moment before saying, "Hello Naruto, have you come to kill me?"

Naruto looked her over, "That depends on how you answer a very simple question. Why did you leave this Naruto?"

She stared at his face before heading inside and going into the kitchen. "Would you like some tea?"

"Will it be poisoned?"

"I'll take that as a no." She got a cup for herself and sat down on the couch. "The fox ears and tails are new since last I saw you."

"Allot of things are new since last you saw this Naruto," he replied, remaining standing.

Kushina took a drink of her tea. "I suppose I deserve those."

"No, what you deserve is to get every single scar this Naruto has. You don't know what they did to him."

"And I'm sorry those things happen to you. It appears Sarutobi had too much faith in himself."

"And what faith did you have in this Naruto to just abandon him?"

Kushina took another sip from her tea. "None," she said truthfully. "I expected you to be dead. At the time, I expected myself to be as well."

"And that justifies it?"

"No. Naruto...I had just lost my husband and allot of blood. And there you were, with the whiskers of the very thing that hurt so many. Hell, you look like it even more so now. Minato was gone, I had no reason to stay, and the council refused to let you leave, for fear of you returning one day as the weapon of another village. So, I made a choice and..."

"Mom, I'm home." A blond girl walked into the living room. She had wild blond hair, bright blue eyes, and looked just like Kushina only thirteen. "Oh, hello sir." She curtsied to him, thinking he was a noble. "It is a pleasure to meet you. I'm Karei."

He looked at her a moment, "Naruto, the guardian of the High Priestess of the Land of Demons and her family." Kushina looked at him, shocked. "You were wrong, this Naruto is not a ninja as you thought.

"So you're from the temple, that is very cool."

Naruto looked back and smiled. "It is, its very peaceful there. Tell this Naruto, how old are you, Karei?"

"I'll be fourteen October tenth."

"What a coincidence, that's this Naruto's birthday as well." He looked back to Kushina. "So, she doesn't know about this Naruto?"

"I never mentioned you," Kushina replied.

"Rather let the demon brat be forgotten, right," Naruto asked.

"What is going on," Karei asked. "What business do you have with my mother?"

Naruto kept his eyes on her, she showed no emotion seeing him. "The kind a lost son has in finding his mother, Namikaze Karei, daughter of Namikaze Minato." He looked at her, "This Naruto is your brother, the one our mother left in Konohagakure."

"What? Mother, why is he lying like that?"

Kushina took another drink. "He isn't, he is your brother, and I did leave him. And right now, he is trying to decide if I should live or not." Naruto nodded before slowly drawing Shuria. "And he has decided."

"No!" Karei went up to them, grabbing Naruto's sword arm. "You can't! I won't let...you." Naruto looked at her and she froze seeing the look in his eyes. She let go and stepped back. Free of her, Naruto turned back to Kushina.

_'Do it, make me pay for what I did,' _ Kushina prayed, her eyes closed. She heard footsteps before being pulled into a hug. Her eyes snapped open to see the sword leaning against the far wall and Naruto kneeling beside her, hugging her. "What?"

"This Naruto can see it, you hurt leaving him behind, that you lost hope. So, he has decided forgiveness."

"No... You aren't supposed to forgive me," she cried. "A mother can't lose hope and I did... You're supposed to hate me."

"This Naruto doesn't," he told her. "He just wants his mother."

Kushina was freely crying now, "No... I don't deserve to be. Why can't you hate me?"

Karei hugged both of them. "Kaa-san, isn't it enough that he misses us? Can't, can't we be a family now?"

Kushina touched Naruto's face and felt a blemish where she saw none. With a whisper of "Kai," she revealed the scar on his face. "My poor baby...what did they do to you?" She finally began to hug him back. "I don't deserve to be forgiven, Naruto, not for leaving you there. I'm so sorry."

"Mother," Naruto muttered before pulling her close.

—oo000oo—

Naruto pushed the plate away, "This Naruto can't eat anymore, kaa-san, or he'll explode."

"Only took fifteen plates," Karei said, looking at the stack.

"This Naruto has a very active life and a very active metabolism," he defended himself.

"Are you sure you're not hungry," Kushina asked him. "I'll gladly make more."

Naruto waved his hands in front of her, looking a little green at eating more. "No, this Naruto can't."

"Okay," she said, about to take the dirty dishes in.

"This Naruto will do that," he told her politely. He made several clones and they all cleared the table. They began filling the sink with water and cleared them.

"You must take after you father," Kushina stated. "No way did you get this from me."

"What do you mean, kaa-san," Naruto asked.

"Mom always says she was a tom boy, always running around, causing pranks, being chased by the village ANBU," Karei told him. "You act like a well bred noble."

Naruto began to grin at how his mother was described. "This Naruto doesn't know about that. He can clearly remember running around, causing pranks, being chased by ANBU, Jonin, Chunin, Genin, and the Hokage a few times. Never could figure out how out of all of them, only Iruka-sensei always caught him." He began to laugh, "Maybe this Naruto shouldn't have put that glue in the council chair's." He giggled, "Or the scorpians...ooh, there was that time this Naruto stuck kick me notes on their backs."

"My brother is a delinquent," Karei muttered.

Naruto was about to deny it, closed his mouth for a moment, and said, "Yes, this Naruto was. It got worst once he got his tail and ears."

Kushina looked at them, "How did you get those?"

All the Naruto's froze a moment. "He came across a lesser demon that cursed him. Kyuubi decided that he'd use it to his advantage." He began playing with his glass. "This Naruto became a kitsunethrope and the Kyuubi decided that he wanted people to know what he is. Didn't exactly work how he thought. This Naruto has been glomped by girls wanting to rub them." His ears twitched and he noticed both looked at his ears and followed them with their eyes. He moved them on purpose and smiled as they continued watching. "This Naruto isn't human any more. He is now completely a lesser demon."

"That is..." Karei started to say but trailed off. "Kinda cool. Do you have any special abilities?"

"This Naruto has animal senses, fox ears and tail and that isn't enough?"

She looked away, "I'm sorry, I probably made you feel like you were on a lab table or something."

Naruto chuckled, "Not really. This Naruto changes into a half human, half fox as well as a full fox."

Kushina smiled at him, glad that in his hard life, he still had the desire to have simple fun. "So, how did you come to be the guardian of a high priestess?"

Naruto gave a humorless grin. "This Naruto misheard the Hokage say something and ran away. He collapsed days later in the Land of Demons. He was taken in by High Priestess Melfena. Then one day, a demon attacked and this Naruto killed it, assuming that role." He finished his glass of milk. "So that is this Naruto's story. What about kaa-san and aneki? Or is it imouto?"

"You are older by an hour," Kushina told him.

Naruto smirked at Karei, "This Naruto is going to hold that over you."

She went over and bopped him over the head. "Don't you dare," she told him.

Kushina looked down at her own glass. "Already said it but you two are twins. After your father...died, I tried to do the best I could. No one knew who your father was besides Sarutobi, Jiriaya, and Tsunade. Most don't even know of you, Karei. Naruto, I tried to take you with me but..."

"The Council wanted their weapon," Naruto finished.

Kushina nodded, "And Sarutobi wanted the son of his successor there in his village. He promised me that he would protect you. That you would be cared for."

Naruto's glass broke in his hand. "This Naruto is sorry," he said, throwing the pieces away. "Looks like Sarutobi was a liar even then."

"Let me see," Kushina said, taking a wet cloth and wiping away the blood. "My lord..." There was no cuts.

"A benefit to not being human," Naruto muttered.

"Brother, how did you...you know, the scar?"

"A drunk broke a bottle over this Naruto's face when he found out he was accepted into the ninja academy. He covered it for months until he learned the henge."

"Are there others?" He didn't say anything. "I hope that means no."

"It doesn't," Kushina stated. "I moved here because I couldn't stand it in Konoha. I wasn't allowed to keep my home, or even my son. I honestly thought I would die of blood lost or someone from the council deciding to kill me. I just wanted to die at home, where I knew my daughter would be cared for by someone I trust."

"But you survived," Naruto stated.

"Yes," Kushina said, not exactly sounding happy about it. "I constantly wondered if one day you or someone from Konoha would come and kill me. Wondered and prayed you did."

"What about Karei," Naruto asked. "Were you trained as a ninja?"

"No, mother never showed me how."

"I left that life behind," Kushina stated.

"But it didn't leave you," Naruto stated. "Danzou was the one that point this Naruto here."

"Danzou," Kushina growled. "He is still after the Hiroshin."

Naruto was silent a moment as he closed his eyes. "This Naruto must do something." He picked up his sword, sheathed it, and walked outside into the night. The saw, just for a moment, him grow taller, his hands changing into claws, his nose and jaw extending, before he jumped.

It was silent a moment before a howl ripped the air. Then came the screaming. "No, no, no, NOOOO!"

"Stop, please stop!"

"AAAGH!"

"DIE! URGH!" That scream ended in a gurgle as he drowned in his own blood.

Karei held her hands in front of her mouth, terrified at hearing people dying. Kushina only felt sorrow that it was her son doing it.

Naruto tour the right arm off the last one. _**"Who sent you!?"**_

"D-D-Danzou," he choked out.

"_**Why!?"**_

"C-Can't tell you!" Naruto dug his claws into his side. "AAGH! I swear! A seal, a seal!" He stuck out his tongue and Naruto saw a seal on it. He grabbed it, pulling it out farther, to see it, getting screams from the man. Naruto then glanced to his eyes and let it go.

"_**Are there others?"**_

"No!"

"_**Did you report where she is?"**_

"NO!"

"_**How did Danzou even know she was here?"**_

"He lied! He knew she was from here but no one has ever seen her!"

"_**Does he know she's here now?"**_

"No!"

"_**Good."**_ He held him by the head with both hands and crushed him between them. Howling, he grabbed the bodies and began to pile them. He then found tinder and oil and set them to burn. He went to a stream and jumped in, washing most of the blood off. Not long later, he walked back inside his mother's home. "You are safe, kaa-san, no one knows you're here."

"Are you alright," Karei asked. His clothes were torn by knife wounds.

"This Naruto is fine." He ran a hand over his scar, replacing the genjutsu.

"Naruto, you didn't have to do that," Kushina told him.

"This Naruto finally found his mother, he isn't going to let anything happen to her. He hugged her and reaffirmed it. "Never."

She finally smiled a little, "Clingy much?"

"Nope," he replied, holding her tighter. "The Namikaze name isn't safe, don't use it."

"We know," Karei told him. "This close to the Land of Earth, it wasn't anyway. Adding Konoha to the list isn't much of a change."

Naruto was quiet a moment as he thought. "This Naruto would feel better if you left here. But if you came with him, you would still be in danger."

"Someplace close to you, baby," Kushina suggested.

"...This Naruto lives in the temple, a village isn't far away. People would find you if they were looking but..."

"But no one knows Uzumaki Kushina or Uzumaki Karei," she told him. "We'll come with you."

"Thanks mom." He hugged her again.

"Yes, we're finally a family," Karei cheered, joining in on the hug. "I can't wait to see our new home!"

Naruto pulled back, "Kaa-san, this Naruto's duties to come first though. He can't leave Melfena-san's side for long."

"I know, Naruto. You are so much like your father on that."

Naruto wasn't happy with the comparison but said nothing. She knew the man and if she thought it a compliment, then he would take it.

—oo000oo—

Kushina looked at the temple, "Its very nice, Naruto," she told him.

"Home, sweet home," Naruto replied. He strode up to the gates and opened them for them. "This Naruto is sure you can stay for a few days to find a home in the village. Allow him to introduce you to Melfena-sama and Shion-chan." He turned and went in.

"Who is 'Shion-chan'," Karei asked.

Kushina smiled down at her daughter. "Maybe he has a girlfriend."

"AH! NARUTO!" They looked in the direction of the delighted scream followed by a thump of something being glomped.

Karei giggled, "Naruto and Shion, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G."

—oo000oo—

"Hello, Naruto," Melfena said, smiling at him. "You look well."

"This Naruto feels well, all things considered," he told them. "Konoha didn't exactly go as well as this Naruto first hoped but that was his own fault. But this Naruto did finally find his mother and why she left him. She is outside with his twin sister," he told her, hugging Shion back.

"Oh? I must meet her then. I wonder what kind of person this werefox is?"

"Actually, this Naruto needs to tell you something."

—oo000oo—

Naruto walked out ahead of Melfena and Shion. "Melfena-sama, Shion-chan, this is this Naruto's mother and twin sister, Kushina and Karei."

The two curtsied to the priestess, "It is an honor to meet you," Kushina told her.

"Yes it is," Karei agreed. "Naruto-kun couldn't stop talking about it."

"The honor is mine," Melfena told them, bowing her head to them. "Naruto is a very wonderful boy, you must be proud of him."

"I am," Kushina replied. "For everything that has happened to him and him coming out how he is, the is not end of my pride, nor shame that I left him to it."

"This Naruto told you, you don't have to apologize." He turned back to Melfena, "This Naruto couldn't leave them, Konoha might have hurt them."

"I understand, I'm sure there is a place in the village for them."

"Thank you, Melfena-sama," Naruto said, bowing.

Karei walked over to Shion and smiled, "Hello. So, you're Naruto-kun's girlfriend?"

Both Naruto and Shion blushed deep red. "N-No," Shion denied. "Naruto, how could you e spreading rumors like that!?" _'Though I wouldn't mind.'_

"Th-This Naruto didn't! He never said that!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Karei said, grinning mischievously. "I only though you were, what with Naruto always describing how beautiful you are, and how wonderful you are, and how your scent smells like heaven." Naruto was fully red now, not just his face. Shion was in a similar state. Karei's smile was full blown, _'Too easy.'_

"Your daughter has a wicked streak," Melfena stated.

"They both remind me too much of me when I was their age. So, my son and your daughter?"

"He has already begun courting her," Melfena informed the other woman. "Had you not been found, I would have had the wedding planned by the end of the year," she whispered.

"Did you plan this?"

"I would never force my daughter to love anyone other than she choses. I just happen to approve of her choice."

"The daughter of a priestess and a demon..." She shook her head at it. "Naruto."

He walked over, "Yes, kaa-san?"

"I'm really tired, baby, I'm going to go rest." She gave him a kiss on the forehead and whispered, "Shion-chan is as lovely as you described. I'm sure you'll both make each other happy." She straightened while Naruto just smiled, "Karei-chan, stop tormenting your brother and come with me. We both could use a rest."

"Yes mother," she called, following her. "Bye Shion, Naruto, Melfena-sama."

Melfena smiled as they left. "You have a very lovely family, Naruto. I see where you get your well behavior."

Naruto just grinned and rubbed the back of his head, _'If only she knew.'_

—oo000oo—

Author's Notes, this one was a long time in coming no?Had part of it worked out but never finished it until now. Don't know why. With Kushina, I wanted her to feel like she did something unforgivable with Naruto. Something she wanted to be punished for. I know my mother would have never forgiven herself if she could protect me when I was a child.


End file.
